We begin with three unnamed actors, played by the wonderful funny trio of David Tarkenter, Tessa Wong and Tanvi Virmani, as they discuss different approaches to putting on the play, with pulls towards classic and modern theatrical traditions, before the lines between the play and the play within the play fade and Cyrano, played by writer Virginia Gay, joins us.
Cyrano is looking for her happy ending in Gay’s deconstructed, gender-swapped subversion of Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play, seeking to fulfil her unrequited love of the beautiful Roxane (Jessica Whitehurst), using her language to woo Roxane by proxy through the physically desirable but dense Yan (Brandon Grace).
As in Jamie Lloyd and Martin Crimp’s West End collaboration, fronted by James McAvoy, Cyrano’s famous oversized nose is dispensed with – still there, but left to the imagination, much like the large swathes of plot and scene.
Gay takes a scalpal to much of the story, whittling it down to just 70 minutes. The usual love triangle, the engine of the play, remains but doesn’t survive alteration. The length scenes of war in the second half are hinted at in a few early lines and that’s the last we hear of them. Much of the story that remains is told in meta passages where the characters talk about what’s happening – telling rather than showing – and yet it works. It happens against Amanda Stoodley’s sparse set – a handful of props on a bare stage.
It’s clear though, that it is not just physical attributes that are lacking for Roxane, it’s Cyrano’s sexuality. Cyrano could have summed up her conundrum by paraphrasing Charli xcx and Billie Eilish’s recent single collaboration: “Roxane likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it.” Except Roxane is oblivious.
Gay and director Clare Watson’s approach, as they play with the story and theatre itself as a medium, makes for a wonderfully engaging piece of theatre. However, the production stumbles as Gay seeks to give Cyrano the conclusion she so desires as she adds a thin, saccharine final coda. As Cyrano makes her last stand, we’re hit with all the colour, glee and emotional depth of a budget Netflix rom-com. Still, there is so much to love here, you can only fault the production so much for wanting to leave a little joy.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (Very good)
