IN this age of plastic surgery, would a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac have gone under the surgeon's knife to trim his big nose? Would that have changed the course of this story of unrequited love?

How shallow that would be, but what surely persists is how Cyrano is a tale where love is ultimately deeper than skin deep, and that is the beating heart of Northern Broadsides' rollicking rendition of Edmond Rostand's epic, fictional but so truthful French comedy drama.

Playwright Deborah McAndrew has essentially distilled the story into five scenes, all full of energy, exuberance, passion, swash and buckle, that run to around three hours but pass far more quickly. The setting remains 1640 Paris, there are still some rhyming couplets, but rather more prose, and much of the language, save for the beauty of Cyrano's letters and the lyricism of the central romance, is more the stuff of Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors or a Dario Fo play.

Working in tandem with director-composer Conrad Nelson, McAndrew's big decision has been to make her love-struck Cyrano (Christian Edwards) much closer in age to Roxane (Scottish actress Sharon Singh) and Christian (Adam Barlow), the "handsome new boy in town", and the effect is to pump up the energy to typically Broadsides levels.

Edwards, in his Broadsides debut, is a thrilling new catch for the Halifax company. His Cyrano is flamboyant, fearless, utterly romantic, principled, but as insecure as the Yorkshire coastline, and both his pen and his sword – as well as his nose – are mighty. He truly lives up to Cyrano's desire to be a man of panache.

In McAndrew's revision and Singh's shining performance, Roxane is more fully formed, a young woman of bright intelligence, incisive wit and strong assertion, rather than merely drawn to handsome looks. Likewise, you warm to Barlow's Christian, with his earnest desire beyond his fumbling way with words.

Terrific characters and performances abound, from Andy Cryer's villain of the piece, De Guiche, to Michael Hugo's drunken, hopeless poet and even more hopeless romantic Ligniere; to the multi role-playing, ever resourceful Francesca Mills. Much fun is to be had with Paul Barnhill and Jessica Dyas's battling Ragueneau and Lise Ragueneau too.

Lis Evans's design gives the company as much room as possible for Beverley Norris-Edmunds' choreography and Philip d'Orléans's fight direction, while evoking 17th century Paris, and in keeping with the best Broadsides' traditions, Nelson's compositions and Rebekah Hughes's musical direction are top notch. The actor-musician skills of the cast are a delight too, another string to the bow that makes Cyrano such a hit for the head and heart alike.

Cyrano, Northern Broadsides, York Theatre Royal, tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm, Thursday, and 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk