TUNNEL warfare deep underground in the rabbit warrens of the First World War beneath the battlefields of France is an unlikely place to find a love story. Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation of Sebastian Faulk’s novel makes the fictional characters feel as if everything is written from personal experience.

The story descends into a subterranean world where the Germans, French and British are all digging towards each other up to a 100ft below ground with nothing but picks, shovels and candlelight. Designer Victoria Spearing’s set uses a simple wooden arch to conjure the tunnel and a broken fence up top becomes a cross, a poignant marker of mortality.

Two tribes of men from the same side emerges; the soldiers and the sewer-rats. Edmund Wiseman’s performance as Stephen Wraysford is heart-wrenching as he remembers his adulterous affair with Isabelle Azaire – an excellent Emily Bowker, the woman he fell in love with in Amiens in 1910.

Peter Duncan’s charismatic energy adds tenderness to his tough tunnelling character Jack Firebrace, with his Dear Margaret letters to his wife and young son. Selma Brook is outstanding as the tricky Lisette and even better as a prostitute. Max Bowden’s 15-year-old soldier Tipper brought tears to my eyes, and James Findlay’s folk renditions are truly captivating.

Time is the ultimate confessor in the trembling moments of a war filled with uncertainty and confusion. The sound of skylarks against the colossal crashes and explosions provide a kind of hope for brave men who hide their fear with bluster and become closer than the pages of the Faulks’ book. Take hankies.

* Runs until Saturday. Box Office: 0191-230-5151 or northernstage.co.uk

Also March 10 to 14, Darlington Civic Theatre

Box Office: 01325-486555 or darlingtoncivic.co.uk

Helen Brown