Michael Brosilow
James Ridge (left) plays the swashbuckling Cyrano with passion and vulnerability.
Cyrano de Bergerac fears nothing — or so it appears at the top of Edmond Rostand’s play when the gallant poet/philosopher/soldier leaps about the stage, crafting a verse while decimating, physically and intellectually, a man who insults him. Not long after, he single-handedly vanquishes 100 men in defense of a friend.
Yet Cyrano paces and trembles when his lovely cousin Roxane (the coquettish Laura Rook) requests a private meeting. Does he dare to hope that she will reciprocate his love?
Cyrano de Bergerac, playing at American Players Theatre through October 6, is a romance that rivals Romeo and Juliet. The play, written in 1897, captured my heart at age 14, and I am happy to report that my love for the story and its titular character has not diminished with age. I was captured by the great tragedy of a person’s outward appearance not matching his beautiful soul. As an awkward (blemished) teen, I yearned to be seen for who I really was. We all do, which is why Cyrano is an easy play to love. James DeVita’s adaptation of the French translation sparkles, hitting all the right notes, both comedic and tragic.
Cyrano, played with heartbreaking panache by James Ridge, is witty and brave beyond compare. His goal, not humbly stated, is “to be the best at everything.” But by his own admission, he is ugly (the prosthesis used for his nose is a tad distracting). The one thing he cannot bear is to be rejected by Roxane.
When Roxane calls for a meeting at the bakery owned by Ragueneau (a delightful David Daniel), Cyrano has a letter tucked into his breast pocket, a declaration of love. She strings him (and us) along, describing her burning passion for a man whose qualities all match Cyrano’s. And then she drops the bomb: The man she fancies is “handsome.” On the night I saw Cyrano, you could hear a pin drop. Even the whippoorwills fell silent as the reality sank in: It’s not him she loves. She’s never even met the object of her affection, the charming yet inarticulate Christian de Neuvillette (Danny Martinez). He’s joining Cyrano’s regiment, and she begs him to protect the young soldier.
Cyrano stifles his desire and hands over the letter, saying it’s from Christian. And from there, the story unfolds. Christian and Cyrano craft an elaborate scheme to win Roxane for Christian using Cyrano’s words. They almost blow it when Christian tries to go off script, to comic effect. And if you’ve never seen Cyrano you’ll see why this play’s balcony scene, achingly funny and sad, rivals (or exceeds) that of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.
I’m a huge fan of the 1990 film starring Gérard Depardieu, and I’ve seen Cyrano at APT before. I have always been devastated by the romance, but this time, I was able to understand another reason why the play endures. The play is inherently political; it speaks to our desire to live independently. At a time when artists and soldiers were all beholden to wealthy patrons, Cyrano refused to bow to anyone. He lived his convictions. As DeVita puts it in his director’s notes, “I cannot think of a time when we need Cyrano more than now.”
