SEX talk with Liz Lochhead is every bit as fun as you would imagine.

The grand dame of Scottish theatre, and Machair to boot, knows a fair bit about the subject.

And it’s not just from reflections as a teenager in the swinging Sixties.

The lady has clearly given the concept of sexual congress a great deal of thought.

For professional reasons, of course.

The playwright has taken Arthur Schnitzler’s late 19th century sex and class and musical beds play La Ronde and updated it for the modern age, becoming, What Goes Around.

What made her think of getting under the covers of such a wicked little play?

“I saw a cheap but lovely wee production of La Ronde last year and my friend the director Tony Cownie said I should do a Scottish translation.

"But I didn’t fancy doing the actual play, I came up with an idea to update it.”

La Ronde, a comedy, tells a series of stories about affairs involving a prostitute, a soldier, a chambermaid, her employer's son and so on.

“Each time, one person in the sexual coupling stays the same and a new person comes in,” says Liz.

“But it ends up back at the beginning, full circle.

“I had this vision whereby an actor and an actress, who are appearing in La Ronde, have an affair.”

Liz smiles when she reveals what she learned from La Ronde, and indeed the writing of her own version, that humans aren’t in control of their sexual urges.

“Woody Allen says sex is the most fun you can have without laughing, and you have to laugh when you think of our foibles.”

So our brains do turn to mush when the libido kicks in?

“Men’s brains,” she says with an eager flourish. Oh, come on Liz. That’s a wee bit sexist. Men don’t have sex on their own.

“Oh, yes,” she concedes, laughing. “You’re right. And in this play, the actress seems innocent, but she’s not that innocent. She’s a bit like Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot. And yes, she has urges.

“And although I’m sixty eight now I can remember having urges.” She adds, grinning; “I remember enough to be able to write about them.”

La Ronde however isn’t just as a sex comedy. It’s a morality tale. It’s about consequences. It’s a reminder to the world if you take the Ashley Madison free-for-all route then all hell can break loose.

“Yes, that’s true. But what I had to get my head around is that internet dating, and phone apps such as Tinder work for so many people.

“I did a lot of research for this play and I realised that a lot of my younger friends, people around forty, met their partners online. This just freaks me out. I thought; ‘How can you do that?’ But it seems to be quite normal these days.”

The rules of engagement have changed. But does she believe women can have sex with impunity?

“Yes – and no,” she says, going on to explain her ambivalence. “Women these days can have sex much more freely, if they choose to explore it. But since caveman days they’re contained by conditioning and biology. Women are programmed to choose a partner and have children, although it has changed.

“And while the characters (in the play) exist in a world of sexual freedom, they still live in a world of class.”

She adds, almost with a sigh; “I may sound like a sap here but I think what human beings are really looking for is love.

"They may not know it when they chase a quick night. But I think the search for love is at the heart of it all.”

Here’s a harder question Liz? Do you think men and women are getting closer to understanding each other?

“Yes, I do,” she says.

“Compared to my mother and father’s day? Yes.”

Did the sixties swing for Lochead at Glasgow School of Art in 1965?

“They swung for me almost as much as they did for my friends. But I was a bit of a serial monogamist, and then was married for twenty five years.”

Liz Lochhead lost a great deal five years ago when her husband passed away. She lost her way a little. But her fascination with life and writing about life, has returned, thus a play about sexual mores.

“It’s been a delight exploring this world,” she says. “I’ve been fascinated to learn about sexual encounters, and the part vanity plays in it all.

“But at the end of the day, I think I’m in agreement with Schnitzler. And no matter what people do on I think we’re all still looking for love.”

• What Goes Around, the Tron Theatre, September 17 – 19.