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    Cyrano de Bergerac
    Cyrano de Bergerac
    Cyrano de Bergerac
    Ebook237 pages1 hour

    Cyrano de Bergerac

    By Kate Hennig

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    From the acclaimed author of The Last Wife and The Virgin Trial comes a new adaptation of one of the finest love stories ever told.

    Cyrano de Bergerac is a swashbuckling seventeenth-century swordsman who can do anything . . . except tell Roxane, the woman he loves, how he feels. He’s just too self-conscious about his unusually large nose. Roxane finds romance in words, and Cyrano is full of them, so when he sees the chance to ghostwrite love letters to her from an inarticulate, love-struck cadet, he takes it—but can he ever reveal himself? Could she ever love him for who he is? In turns funny, tender, and self-aware, this classic tale about the exquisite distress of loving from afar will find its way into the hearts of even the most skeptical.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPlaywrights Canada Press
    Release dateJul 24, 2019
    ISBN9780369100177
    Cyrano de Bergerac
    Author

    Kate Hennig

    Kate Hennig is a playwright, performer, teacher, director, and Associate Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival. Kate’s play, The Last Wife, which premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2015, has had many subsequent productions across Canada and the US. The Virgin Trial was awarded the Carol Bolt Award for Best New Play in 2017, and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama. The third play in Kate's Tudor series, Mother’s Daughter, will premiere at the Stratford Festival in 2019. Visit kathennig.com for more information.

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    Reviews for Cyrano de Bergerac

    4/5

    1,240 ratings24 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Best enjoyed in its superior French version, Cyrano is as “classy” as it gets. Simple, yet most effective, full of humor yet very sad. It is both a touching love story, and the horrible testimony of a flawed human nature constantly fooled by appearances.
    • 4/5
      I've always enjoyed the character of Cyrano. Braggart, lover, arrogant, powerful. His flair for the romance and devotion to the arts makes every early scene one of great fun. The idea of being the true soul of another man's voice is also entertaining, if the drama weren't so pathetic. Here is a man so true to himself and his nature that he can brave anything... except the fact that there could be a woman who can love him despite his enormous nose. Therein lies the tragedy which concludes the tale on a very sour note. I don't believe it is noble to suffer love in silence. I believe love should be shouted from the rooftops. A fatal flaw in the charm of the book, but one I can easily ignore.
    • 3/5
      What Rostand gives you with this play can, I think, be boiled down to two things: the language he uses and the titular character of Cyrano de Bergerac. No other characters are given much depth, and the plot of the play is a love triangle of the type you've seen a thousand times before. However, with the language of the play and the character of Cyrano, Rostand was not just adhering to old ideas. Even in translation (Hooker for my edition), the language holds up, not impressing in every instance but impressing often enough to establish that Rostand was a masterful writer. Unfortunately, the character of Cyrano left me wanting.

      Cyrano struck me, repeatedly, as a calculated attempt by Rostand to make as popular a character as possible, meaning that, despite his historical roots, there's never an attempt to make him a flesh and blood character. Instead, Cyrano is over-the-top and theatrical. There's nothing wrong with having a theatrical character (this was written for the theater, after all), and there's nothing wrong with having it be your goal for the character to be popular, but if you notice that is occurring then the author has failed- coming off as trying too hard is never a good thing in this context. Cyrano is the finest swordsman in Paris, and he's likewise got not only a rapier wit but formidable poetic chops as well. He's also adored by all the good people of France, who cheer him on and consider him a hero in the first act of this play, even after he ruined a night out at the theater for all of them. De Guiche even complements Cyrano for distracting him long enough for the target of his affections to elope. The only people who don't like Cyrano are obvious villains and people never seen on-stage. The only flaw that our protagonist has is his lack of self-confidence concerning members of the fairer sex. It's a flaw tailor-made to make him as likable a character as possible, since who hasn't lacked confidence at least once, especially in matters of the heart? And with Cyrano, there's no question that this lack of self-confidence is unfounded. With Cyrano, Rostand can give us a character who's the bravest, smartest, funniest, most romantic of everyone, but who isn't absolutely without flaw and therefore not boring in his perfection. I get why this character is popular with many people. But he didn't resonate with me. I found him lacking in depth, and the only insight you can take from his character are platitudes. Be brave! Be smart! Stand up for what you believe in! Don't hide your feelings, be honest about them! There's no real insight here, because there's no real struggle- the only struggle that plays out on stage is Cyrano's romantic struggle (we never see his descent into poverty), and the solution to that struggle is an obvious one. Rostand gives us a character who is brave, but who never has to fight a fight he can't win. He's a romantic, but he never has to deal with an actual relationship. There's none of the mess of real life here, it's all clean melodrama, and that's fine as theatrical entertainment, but as a work of literature it can't rise above mediocrity for me.

      I expect that I shall forever think of bottles of red wine as flasks of ruby, and bottles of white as flasks of topaz. That's more of an effect than many books have had on me. When I remember Cyrano, though, I expect I shall remember him as a failed attempt, at least in my experience.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this! It was funny, but poor Cyrano :'(
    • 3/5
      While the play is well written and features some very memorable scenes, I just can't bring myself to enjoy it. I don't see anything to be admired in Cyrano's character; he may have many talents both martial and societal, but at heart he is a weak man hiding behind extreme conceptions of honor. Not only does this weakness bring suffering on himself, but everyone around him. I don't appreciate when fiction extols harmful character traits as something to be emulated.I do however appreciate beautiful language and the poetic moments such as the balcony scene, so I can still give this work 3 stars.
    • 5/5
      I should get a bigger nose.
    • 5/5
      One of my absolute favourites! A beautiful romantic story set in one of my favourite time periods and told in one of my favourite languages - I mean, really, what's NOT to love?? It is truly exquisite.
    • 4/5
      Fell in love with the play and Jose Ferrer's BW version. Over the top romanticism, but truly a lot of fun.
    • 4/5
      Great play, but there were parts of this translation that maybe could have been better. Then again, I do not speak French, so who am I to judge.
    • 5/5
      I love this play beyond the telling. It's one of the few single plays I own. The plays I keep on my shelves are complete plays of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Oscar Wilde, some Moliere, a collection of Spanish classics such as de Barca's La Vida Es Un Sueno and this--one of the few French plays that Americans are likely to see in production or film. Even Steve Martin did a modernized adaptation of it in Roxanne. The thing is that I do agree with the LibraryThing reviewer that counts Cyrano as not someone to admire, rather than the other reviewer on LibraryThing who saw this as a beautiful "unselfish" love. Indeed, Cyrano causes misery all around him because he's unselfish--or too cowardly--to woo his love in his own right. That's the tragedy. But, at least in the translation by Anthony Burgess, so much delights. The back cover says that what this translation has that so many lack is "panache." And yes, this is so witty and sparkling and funny for so much of its length--and poignant and heartbreaking. I have to count as great a playwright who can make me laugh and then cry within the same play.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely loved this as a teenager, it was probably my favorite book of all time until sometime well into my late 20s
    • 5/5
      Cyrano de Bergerac is as amazing a character study as it is a romance. Brian Hooker's translation is classic, and was the basis of the screenplay of the version starring Jose Ferrer, who is surely as much Cyrano for English-speaking audiences since then as Coquelin was for Rostand when it was written (note that the screenplay was cut somewhat from the original).
    • 5/5
      A charming play about a man with a nose so big, he believes he cannot attain the love of his beautiful young cousin, Roxane. Accomplished in both poetry and swordplay, Cyrano prides himself on his honor and wit, foregoing any hope of requited love. However when Roxane confides in him that she has fallen in love with one of his new recruits, Cyrano takes the young man under his wing. At first, he tries to instruct the young man in romance but it soon becomes clear that he is hopeless and Cyrano is too infatuated to allow him to do a subpar job.

      Instantly after Cyrano aids in the young couple's marriage the entire regiment is sent to battle. Even as they risk their lives, Cyrano continues to write to Roxane in the name of her beloved. Eventually, the are condemned to a suicide mission and only Cyrano survives. Although his young recruit begs him to return and explain his passion to Roxane, Cyrano never tells her. He dies by assassination after spending fourteen years regularly visiting Roxane in a convent. Only in his last moments does Roxane realize the truth. Cyrano dies confident in his honor and her love.

      This play was funny and moving. Obviously, it's not great that Cyrano spends the whole play lying to the object of his affections, but it is romantic and it's honestly probably better for cousins not to marry.
    • 3/5
      Great play about true love hindered by a facial feature.
    • 5/5
      There was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, and Edmond Rostand is said to have based his eponymous play on de Bergerac’s life. But of course, the plotline of the play is entirely too good to be true.

      I’ve not read Cyrano de Bergerac before this, nor did I realize that the play (and subsequent movie) The Fantasticks was loosely based on another of Rostand’s original works, Les Romanesques. That play, first staged in 1894, was a great success. His Cyrano de Bergerac came later, in 1897 and was an immediate and outstanding success.

      The New York drama critic Clayton Hamilton pens the introduction to the 1929 volume that I read. He first encountered Rostand’s Cyrano by reputation, as news of its triumph in Paris spread to the US. He was only 16 at the time and so impressed that a young playwright was being so widely heralded that he “put in an order at Brentano’s for the text, and bothered the bookstore for days and days, and weeks and weeks until the first copies came to us over the ocean.”

      Flash forward some twenty years and Hamilton laments that the younger generation has not had a chance to experience the play as he had in 1900, with Constant Coquelin in the role of Cyrano and Sarah Bernhardt as Roxane in the French language production in New York. So, he persuaded his friend William Hampden to stage a revival. Hampden agreed, but only if Hamilton could come up with a good English translation. Hamilton then reached out to another friend, the poet Brian Hooker to translate it. And that is the text in this book.

      Rostand, and Hooker, start off a bit slowly and confusingly, as several characters are introduced at once, milling about as they wait for a play to start. But then Cyrano enters the scene and suddenly things start to make sense and the action takes off.

      As to the rest of the story, well, everyone knows the plot. Cyrano, the man with the big nose, is secretly in love with Roxane, but convinced that she would never love someone as ugly as he. To compensate for his outward ugliness he has learned to be one of the best swordsmen of his time. He also has developed a gift with words, displaying wit and style to parry any verbal joust.

      Christian also loves Roxane, and confides in Cyrano, who agrees to lend his words to Christian in wooing Roxane, by letter and soliloquy.

      What I wasn’t prepared for was just how excellent the language of the play was, and how captivating it would be. I’m sorry I’ve waited this long to read it.
    • 4/5
      'Cyrano de Bergerac' is a masterful character study of a man who lets one feature shape his life. Complex and mercurial, Cyrano may be remembered as gallant and honourable, a talanted poet and unsurpassed swordsman, but he is also brash and arrogant and yet so afraid of rejection that he hides behind the identity of his handsome friend. He presents himself as a series of characters, and even at the end of his life will not admit the realities of his situation to those who care about him. He will not compromise in anything except the realisation of his own desires.

      I read a fairly pedestrian prose translation, and as such feel that I missed the flair and pace of the play. However, there remained glimpses of Rostand's mastery of language, most notably in some of Cyrano's soliloquies and the balcony scene with Roxane which, in a work touched by hyperbole - the duel with one hundred men at the Porte de Nesle, and the feast disguised in Roxane's carriage especially spring to mind - crystalises the deep emotion at the heart of the drama. The narrative may sometimes be ridiculous, but Rostand effectively conveys the vividness and reality of a complicated character, as well as some expert creation of atmosphere in ensemble scenes, the opening at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne and the military encampment at Arras.

      The final act serves as a kind of epilogue and, I feel, is the weak point of the play. I am generally not fond of the device and often prefer when something is left to the imagination and the author does not feel the need to tie up all loose ends, but here it seems especially gratuitous, ratcheting up the melodrama to demostrate the tragedy of love, devotion and obstinacy. The construction of the rest of the play was skilful enough to show that there was no way this could have a comforting resolution.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant. Well crafted, intelligent, and romantic. Rostand’s stage instructions, larger than life characters, and tale of panache and heartbreak must have made for an incredible theater experience when it premiered in 1897, and perhaps it still does today. The main story that most are probably aware of has memorable scenes – Cyrano in the bushes feeding lines to Christian as he stands below Roxane’s balcony of course, and also Cyrano pointing out just how banal someone’s attempts at humor are, by rattling off a long string of clever jokes about a big nose. “How darling of you to have built a little perch for little birds to rest their tiny claws,” he says, among many others. However, there is so much more to this play than that: the universality of insecurity, the depth and sacrifice of true love, the transience of life, and having a certain brio while alive. I was surprised by how many of the characters and their actions were historically accurate, outside the love story anyway, including Cyrano himself talking about creative ways of getting to the moon in a wonderful passage that reflects the real de Bergerac’s writing in 1657. Definitely recommended.

      Quotes:
      On death, perhaps a fantastic epitaph:
      Excuse me, friends, I mustn’t keep her waiting:
      The moon has come to fetch me.

      On a kiss:
      Cyrano: A kiss! What is a kiss? A confession
      Made from a little closer at hand, a promise
      Delivered as soon as it’s made,
      A secret whispered close, with a mouth to hear it:
      Eternity held in a moment that stings like a bee.
      Passed like communion, a host with the scent of flowers,
      A way to breathe the breath of the heart of another
      And with one’s lips to sip the beloved one’s soul.

      On love:
      Roxane: What words will you use to tell it?
      Cyrano: All of them.
      Each word that comes to me. I’ll throw them all
      In sheaves at your feet, no time to make a bouquet:
      I love you, I’m stifling, I love you, I’m crazy, it’s more
      Than I can bear. Your name’s like a bell in my heart,
      Dearest, a little bell, and as I keep trembling,
      The bell keeps ringing and ringing and saying your name.
      The tiniest things about you live in my memory.
      I’ve loved them all, always. Last year, I remember,
      On the twelfth of May, you changed the style of your hair!
      You know what you look too long at the sun, the disc
      Of fire that floats on everything afterwards? Well,
      Your hair was my sunlight, and after I looked away
      There were patches of blonde light all over the world.

      On success in life:
      De Guiche: There’s such a thing as too complete success,
      And even when one has done nothing wrong –
      Not really wrong – a certain slight unease
      That isn’t quite remorse will come to haunt one
      When rising to great office. As one climbs,
      The ducal ermine trails along a wake
      Of rustling dead illusions and regrets,
      Just as these autumn leaves catch in your train.
    • 5/5
      Amazing story written in gorgeous verse -- it was all worth muddling through irregular verbs in French class to be able to read this drama in Rostand's language! The heartstopping climax of Cyrano's words to Roxane on the balcony are the epitome of romance expressed so beautifully and sincere. His definition of a kiss is one of the most memorable scenes in theater. The drama is cleverly written, with flowing tempo and rhyme that doesn't feel forced.

      As for the story, many have imitated it since: Ugly, but intelligent, Cyrano is in love with his cousin, Roxane, but is too ashamed of his long nose to tell her. In every other area of his life his is confident and is excellent at swordplay and wit (and can perform both at once!). Also enamoured with the lady is Christian, a handsome man with little brain to match. Roxane is a "Precieuse," a woman who values poetry and beautiful words, and Christian knows that his looks alone won't win her over. He enlists the help of Cyrano, and together, with Christian's looks and Cyrano's words, Roxane is led to believe that Christian is her dream man. Yet, Cyrano must suffer until his secret is revealed years later, too late: Roxane has holed herself up in a nunnery after Christian died in war, and Cyrano suffers a fatal head wound. The tragedy of the revelation is a true tearjerker.

      For romantics, this is a must-read. But like Cyrano's words, the drama offers much more than romance. The theme of bravery and spirit, the "panache" that Cyrano holds dear, is important to the story. If only Cyrano had his famous courage when it came to confessing his love, he would have surely had his Roxane for himself. But then, we wouldn't have such a beautiful tragedy.
    • 5/5
      This is a review of two full-cast audio productions: Caedmon 1965, and LA Theatre Works 2015. Cyrano de Bergerac is an 1897 neo-romantic heroic-comedy by a 29-year-old French playwright, characterized by witty dialogue and the concept of panache. It is based on two real people from the 17th century. Cyrano de Bergerac actually existed sans the big nose, but was indeed a poetic warrior and charmer. Roxane was also a lover of poetry and Chivalric love. The era when the play was released, realism was making inroads and most plays were heavy, dark, somewhat depressing. Into this atmosphere stepped a lighthearted and witty story that made no sacrifice to realism. It was an immediate and stunning success striking a chord with the French people who appreciated the glory of French Chivalry framed in a way that was acceptable (humor) and admirable. It is also a classic love story ensuring enduring appeal.

      The 3-record Caedmon production stars Sir Ralph Richardson and was produced by The Theatre Recording Society with a translation by Brian Hooker. It is a faithful translation of the original French text, and therein is the problem - it is hard to follow, at least in audio and for a first-timer to the story. This is not the best introduction, but it is close to the original.

      The LA Theatre Works radio play is based on the translation and adaption by Anthony Burgess which was then adapted for radio. This is an excellent introduction, there is no problem following the plot, characters and dialogue. The radio adaptation is about half the length of the Hooker version so a lot has been dropped but all the scenes are there and it retains the same spirit of the original.
    • 5/5
      In Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand creates a tale of unconquerable love, and unquenchable pride in the form of a living, vibrant poem running within the play. Cyrano de Bergerac is a philosopher, knight errand, poet, playwright and above all, a gentleman from Gascony, which means he owns enormous pride and vanity along with undying bravery. The play follows his star-crossed love, Roxanne, and comrade-in-arms Christian.

      Rostand crafts Cyrano as the perfect knight of ages past, as skilled with poetry and philosophy as he is with his sword. For example, in the first act Cyrano duels an opponent and composes a ballad as he duels, to commemorate the duel and as he promises before he even draws his sword, in the last verse strikes home and covers himself in glory before all in the crowded playhouse. It is this dashing nerve, and Cyrano’s, or rather, Rostand’s eloquence that makes this play a classic. Cyrano is too proud to function in modern society though, to use his triumph at arms to gain favor with superiors is against his nature. The soul of Cyrano is that of fire and passion, imagination and pride that will never surrender to his old foes “falsehood, prejudice, compromise, cowardice, and vanity”

      Cyrano de Bergerac has a slightly rocky start, as Cyrano is not immediately introduced, but when Cyrano is the play takes on a whole new dimension. The play flies by on the wings of lyrical genius and philosophy of what it means to be noble, brave and pure of spirit, along with the folly of pride. I would highly recommend this to everyone out of high school and anyone is not forced to read it.

      Dan
    • 3/5
      I will admit that my choice of this book was influenced by my daughter. She got to see this play performed at the Utah Shakepeare Festival and just loved it. She said all the girls thought it was great. Since I had a play category, I chose to read this one.

      I am not quite as crazy about the play as she was, but I did enjoy it. I loved the first part of the play. Cyrano is a great character. What I didn't enjoy as much was the whole selfless adoration involved. I don't want to spoil it, but let me say that I felt Cyrano should have spoken up sooner.
    • 3/5
      The classic play that follows the adventures of the titular credit as he fights to defend his strong sense of honour, succumbs to love, and takes on anyone who makes even the slightest disparaging comment about his large nose.

      I think my first exposure to this play was probably in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and while I've always known the outline of the plot, I had never read it. I've now fixed that and while the play was enjoyable, I don't think it's one I'll revisit. That said, the complex stage descriptions leave me in awe of how it would have been staged in the 19th century.
    • 3/5
      3.5

      This play has an electrifying final act that brings the play to a satisfying conclusion.
    • 5/5
      I consider this among my favorite plays for both its romantic air of the grand opera and the poetic monologues of its eponymous hero. An unconventional love story, it is more a fable for the importance of virtue, loyalty and friendship. What more magnanimous man in literature is there than Cyrano de Bergerac? I am sure that I will return to this play again and again as it reminds me of the best that is possible for man and mankind.

    Book preview

    Cyrano de Bergerac - Kate Hennig

    A single red rose sits atop a pile of aged sepia-toned book pages.

    Also by Kate Hennig

    The Last Wife

    The Virgin Trial

    Mother’s Daughter

    Cyrano de Bergerac

    Edmond Rostand

    translated and adapted by Kate Hennig

    Playwrights Canada Press

    Toronto

    Copyright

    Cyrano de Bergerac © Copyright 2019 by Kate Hennig

    First edition: July 2019

    Author photo © David Cooper

    Playwrights Canada Press

    202-269 Richmond St. W., Toronto, ON M5V 1X1

    416.703.0013 :: [email protected] :: www.playwrightscanada.com

    No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, or used in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except for excerpts in a review or by a licence from Access Copyright, www.accesscopyright.ca.

    For professional or amateur production rights, please contact:

    The GGA, 250 The Esplanade, Suite 304

    Toronto, ON M5A 1J2

    416.928.0299 :: [email protected]

    Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

    Title: Cyrano de Bergerac / translated and adapted by Kate Hennig ; [originally written] by Edmond Rostand.

    Names: Hennig, Kate, author. | adaptation of (work): Rostand, Edmond, 1868-1918. Cyrano de Bergerac.

    Description: A play.

    Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190148756 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190149337 | ISBN 9780369100153 (softcover) | ISBN 9780369100160 (PDF)

    | ISBN 9780369100177 (EPUB) | ISBN 9780369100184 (Kindle)

    Classification: LCC PS8615.E543 C97 2019 | DDC C812/.6—dc23

    Playwrights Canada Press acknowledges that we operate on land, which, for thousands of years, has been the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, Métis, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Today, this meeting place is home to many Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and play here.

    We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts—which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country—the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada for our publishing activities.

    Logo: Canada Council for the Arts.Logo: Government of Canada.Logo: Ontario Creates.Logo: Ontario Arts Council.

    Dedication

    To my dear friend, Maggie Huculak, for the great gift she gives in listening to my earliest kicks at the can.

    A Note on the Text

    Late in 2017 Tim Carroll asked me to adapt Cyrano de Bergerac for the Shaw Festival. I jumped at the chance. To begin with, I considered purchasing a direct translation, but after digging a little deeper, using my own translation became the only viable option. Words are such an individual choice of expression. They can translate so differently depending on the taste of the writer. It became very important to me to make these choices myself. This decision, in turn, led me to abandon the verse form. Rostand wrote the play in iambic hexameter (Alexandrine). All the translations I read were written in iambic pentameter, as that seems to be the most effective English equivalent. In order to create rhyming verse in English, you have to drastically change the words from the French. This means that the translator basically rewrites all the words in the play. The more I worked on the literal translation, the more I fell in love with the word choices that Rostand had made. So, I scrapped the verse in favour of prose, allowing me to preserve some of Rostand’s magnificent poetry, which you otherwise would never hear. Rostand also wrote copious numbers of stage and acting directions. I have kept more than I normally would because I find many of them so delicious. Actors: use them or ignore them as you see fit. I have tried very hard to be true to the essence of the play—which originally had more than forty speaking parts and more than sixty named parts—while creating a version for seven women and seven men. The final stages of the work were completed in rehearsal with the excellent French of Chris Abraham and Allan Teichman, and with the theatrical rigour of our fine ensemble of actors. Please enjoy this wonderful play.

    —KH

    Playwright’s Notes

    A forward slash ( / ) indicates the next speaker should overlap their dialogue at the slash; when this occurs at the beginning of the line, the next speaker completely overlaps that line.

    An em dash ( — ) at the end of a line indicates that the thought should be cut off, either by the current speaker or by the next speaker jumping in.

    An ellipsis ( . . . ) indicates that the speaker should search briefly for the thought, leaving a gap in speech.

    Square brackets ( [ ] ) surrounding dialogue indicate the English translation of the italicized word(s).

    Production History

    Cyrano de Bergerac was first produced by the Shaw Festival at the Royal George Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, from July 27 to October 20, 2019, with the following cast and creative team:

    Cyrano: Tom Rooney

    Roxane: Deborah Hay

    Christian: Jeff Irving

    De Guiche: Patrick Galligan

    Le Bret: Tanja Jacobs

    Ragueneau: Kyle Blair

    The Companion: Sharry Flett

    The Unfortunate and Carbon: Jason Cadieux

    Soubrette and Lise: Emily Lukasik

    Bellerose, Cadet 1, and Mother Marguerite: Kiera Sangster

    Lignière, Lady, Poet 1, Cadet 4 (Sentinel), and Sister Marthe: Marla McLean

    Montfleury, Poet 3, Friar, and Cadet 5: David Adams

    Valvert, Poet 2, Cadet 3, and Sister Claire: Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster

    Pickpocket, Mistress, Musketeer, and Cadet 2: Michael Man

    Director: Chris Abraham

    Set and Costume Design: Julie Fox

    Lighting Design: Kimberly Purtell

    Original Music and Sound Design: Thomas Ryder Payne

    Fight Direction: John Stead

    Stage Manager: Allan Teichman

    Assistant Stage Manager: Ashley Ireland

    Assistant Stage Manager: Théa Pel

    Characters

    Cyrano

    Roxane

    Christian

    De Guiche

    Le Bret

    Ragueneau

    The Companion

    and

    in a theatre: Lignière, The Unfortunate, Bellerose, Soubrette, Montfleury, Pickpocket, Valvert, Lady, Mistress

    in a bakery: Lise, three Poets, a Musketeer

    near a balcony: a Friar

    on a battlefield: Carbon, five Cadets

    in a cloister: Mother Marguerite, Sister Marthe, Sister Claire

    Acte I

    The stage is empty but for a magnificent oak tree. A full moon glows. Roxane, in mourning weeds, walks through the theatre and up onto the stage. She touches the tree. A single leaf falls. Roxane watches its decent.

    The moment the leaf hits the stage, life in the theatre erupts. A song, The Ballad of a Mystery Man, is sung as the scenery is put into place:

    Lignière (speaking)

    Gather near, lend your ear, I’ve a ditty you should hear.

    Its subject, X, is after sex (you can pay me with a beer!):

    (singing) A man we all know has been stooping so low that his good name is ripe for the taking,

    His collar of lace is a slap in the face to the Gascon of any true making.

    His wife is the niece of a certain red priest, and he shames her, in public, while counting

    The spoils of his charms, and the girls on his arms, and his number of conquests is mounting:

    There’s a woman he’d claim who’s eluding his aim,

    So he’s sent in a stooge whose ambition is huge,

    But that youth will be sorry and lacking in glory

    If once he denies to help X to his prize.

    Alas, for the Lady, this X, he is shady, his heart’s on a very short leash,

    You bet and I’ll wager he’ll try to engage her, but keep a small piece for—

    Soubrette

    Oranges, raspberry water, sour cedar juice . . .

    1640. A theatre. Framed on one side by the oak tree, is a performance platform, a gallery with chairs, and an open space with some benches.

    Scène I.I

    The Soubrette begins making rounds with a tray of drinks.

    A Pickpocket enters and surreptitiously begins to case the joint.

    Bellerose (coming on, but spoken to the offstage actors)

    I’m lighting the lamps!

    Bellerose begins to light the chandelier at the centre of the stage. The Unfortunate enters through an onstage entrance just as it is brought into place. At the same time the Pickpocket is in the house, trying to second a member of the audience with a sleight-of-hand demonstration.

    The Unfortunate (scanning the stage and the audience)

    Good God. Where is everyone?

    Pickpocket

    If you want

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