Birdsong

Theatre Royal, York/Touring

3 Stars

Based on Sebastian Faulks's classic novel, it tells the story of young Englishman Stephen Wraysford (George Banks) and his passionate affair with unhappily married Frenchwoman Isabelle Azaire (Carolin Stoltz).

In her adaptation, Rachel Wagstaff tells their story through a series of flashbacks - skipping from 1916-18 and back to 1910 - as sounds and events on the front line trigger memories for Wraysford.

But the effectiveness of this structure is unfortunately undermined in this production by the Original Theatre company.

Banks signally fails to connect with his character and there is a lack of chemistry between the two lovers - a hollow heart at the centre of the performance.

The secondary stories and Victoria Spearing's stunning set design are thankfully evocative enough to overcome this central weakness.

The friendship between Jack Firebrace (Peter Duncan) and Arthur Shaw (Simon Lloyd) is wonderfully poignant as they read letters from home and share their hopes for the future.

Both sappers who lay mines under enemy lines, they vividly convey the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and the tensions of being embroiled in a war with no ending.

As the death toll of their comrades adds up and their situation becomes increasingly desperate, the back-lit skyline of burned out buildings becomes ever more moving.

The central object on this skyline is a cross, covered in barbed wire, that's been blasted out of mangled wooden timbers.

It's a haunting image that hovers over all of the action and casts a shadow of death over the claustrophobic mines, the parlour in Isabelle's country house and the trenches.

These visual details, and the empathy felt for characters such as Firebrace and vulnerable underage recruit Tipper (Jonny Clarke), are supported by historic details which are tellingly woven into the script.

At one particularly sombre point Wraysford notes that only 183 out of 800 men in his unit survived the Somme, while at another the cast sing the popular music hall number Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty as they prepare to go over the top.

These facts are always secondary to the personal experiences of war and it's this moving focus on humanity that makes the production so powerful.

The closing scenes are enough to bring a tear to the eye of even the hardest audience member.

Tours until July 12, details: www.originaltheatre.com