Virginia Gay (Cyrano) and Jessica Whitehurst (Roxanne) [Craig Sugden]

VIRGINIA Gay’s gender-flipped retelling of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, an irreverent rom-com, is a hoot if a little rough around the edges.

Cyrano (Gay), a queer woman, has a charming way with words. Her friend, Roxanne (an ebullient Jessica Whitehurst) loves poetry and is seduced by clever language. Intellectually, they appear to be the perfect match.

When Yan (Joseph Evans) a muscled, tattooed soldier from Manchester arrives on the scene, Roxanne can’t wait to see where it leads. But Yan is tongue-tied around Roxanne. He enlists Cyrano’s help to woo her.

Gay’s writing is heartfelt but the drama is uneven and occasionally stilted. The throw-away lines are often the funniest.

Clare Watson’s production is played out on a bare stage, save for a piano, mirrors and three boxes.

It’s meant to resemble a rehearsal-space-cum-theatre, but the meta-theatricality is hammered home by the cast and wears thin after a while.

That said, the chorus (Tessa Wong, David Tarkenter and Tanvi Virmani) and their witty asides win a lot of laughs. Eager for specific roles and equally unsure of what they’re doing in Gay’s 90-minute play, their confusion and conflicted advice win our sympathy.

The company is determined to have an upbeat ending and there’s fun to be had along the way involving party hats and streamers.

It’s hard not to warm to the engaging performances although, ironically, we need better words, rather than charisma alone, to truly captivate our hearts.

Until January 11
parktheatre.co.uk