Cyrano de Bergerac

Edmond Rostand’s great heroic comedy was first produced in 1897 and was a triumph, running for more than 300 consecutive nights. Glyn Maxwell has adapted the play especially for open air theatre. Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person, a poet, a satirist, a writer of comedy and drama. He was a frequent duellist, and it is said that he did indeed have a really large nose. He was part of the Cadets de Gascogne, who fought heroically at the Siege of Arras in 1640.

In the play, Cyrano suffers from unrequited love, and selflessly offers to write poetic love letters on behalf of his guileless friend, who is successfully wooing the young lady he is himself in love with.

Guildburys’ programmes are always packed full of interesting information. We were given pieces on the real Cyrano, on Edmond Rostand and Glyn Maxwell, on Cyrano in performance, the town of Arras, and unrequited love.

The marvellous setting of Merrist Wood gardens meant that not much scenery was required. There were 2 or 3 arches, a clever cart used, for example, for Ragueneau’s bakery and Roxanne’s house, and a fence used to denote the defensive lines of the Cadets during the battle scene. The setting under the trees was of course stunning. However, for some reason, and I’m sure there was a good one, the audience were seated up high on a mound, the action taking place in a dip. This meant that if you were sat in the middle or towards the back of the crowded audience area, your view of the action was often restricted, and it was also difficult to hear all the lines.

Both lighting and sound were effective throughout.

Costumes, as usual with Guildburys’ productions, were rather fine, from Cyrano’s elegant 17th century burgundy creation with flamboyant feathered hat, the Count’s fine hat, cloak and waistcoat, the Cadets fighting attire to the ladies’ elegant gowns. Cyrano’s nose, of course, was exceptionally huge, making it quite hard to take this earnest, thoughtful personage seriously. I wondered whether it might have been slightly smaller.

Guildburys under the direction of Steffen Zschaler produced a play full of swashbuckling heroes, sword fights, battles, heroic deaths, and of course the story of our long-nosed protagonist Cyrano, so in love with Roxanne, the girl he admires, but fully in the knowledge that his appearance would prevent any chance of her falling for him in return.

There was so much feverish activity, and so many actors playing so many different roles – 24 minor characters played by 6 actors, the fast action and dialogue meaning that one missed the name or significance of certain characters as they flitted in and out of the play.

That said, the play was full of wit and humour, romance and sadness, clever jibes at the hypocrisy of church and state, a certain amount of history, and poetry. Paul Baverstock gave us a masterly performance as Cyrano, bringing his serious side, his freethinking, his ‘panache’ and his sadness to the fore. He was also a great unselfish friend to Christian de Neuvillette with whom Roxanne, the girl he loved, was smitten. So much so that he composed the most beautiful and poetic love letters for the inarticulate Christian to send to her.

Another interesting character was the suave Count Antoine de Guiche, played also with great style by Neil James. He seemed to change during the course of the play from dastardly villain to fellow hero, as the brave Gascony troops fought their battle for survival at the Siege of Arras in 1640.

The baker Ragueneau (Richard Walter) was a larger than life character who added a lot of fun to the proceedings. The two lovers Christian and Roxanne (Gabi King and Amie Felton) played their parts well, as did the six other actors playing so many parts. They were an excellent team. The duels and battle scenes were very well executed.

An enjoyable evening spent watching a lively performance of an interesting play.

Photographs by Jonathan Constant.

 

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