Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand

Here’s the first play at Stratford to which Mike and I had distinctly different reactions.  The play elicited vague indifference from Mike, while I thought the production was magical.  After discussion, it seems that he reacted primarily to Rostand’s play, and I reacted to the production.

Though I was familiar with the play’s primary plot—Cyrano lends his poetic abilities to Christian so the latter might woo Roxanne—I’d never seen a live version.  Much of Cyrano’s character is developed in the confusing secondary plots which establish some of the questions on which the play revolves: how much do principles determine behavior? How much do individuals hide their insecurities behind the veil of principles? How willing are we to forfeit happiness rather than risk being mocked?  Using the Anthony Burgesses translation with liberal use of the French original for spice, the performance captured the chaos of the taverns and battlefield, allowing the primary plot to rise above the confusion but requiring much attention to gather the secondary plots.

It's easy to consider the play as a product of the 17th century (when it is set) rather than a late-19th-century throwback reacting against the naturalism and realism then dominating the stage. With that in mind, its romance verges closer to sentimentality than I'm generally happy with. 

Colm Feore’s performance (as de Bergerac) clearly outshone all others this afternoon.  The staging was magical, beginning with the lone boy in sneakers transformed into a rapier-brandishing cavalier by the quick addition of a few props, and ending with de Bergerac’s final dying soliloquy.   

Recommended.