Cyrano de Bergerac: Review
So, my parents and I went on a little overnight trip to Stratford this weekend, whereapon I saw this show and thought it was brilliant. In fact, it is now officially my all-time favourite play. If anybody doesn't know the story, then a synopsis can naturally be found on Wikipedia. I haven't reviewed a show in a while, and have actually never attempted to review a play before. Regardless, I'll see how this goes.
It was an almost full cast, with some understudies for the minor roles.
Now, my thoughts:
- I saw the 8 PM performance yesterday, July 4th, at Stratford's Festival theatre with my father. Our seats were centre orchestra, and thus quite good.
- The play begins with a bunch of brightly dressed jesters and theatre performers on the stage. Then, a young boy comes, dons a hat not unlike Cyrano's, and waves a sword around in imitation of the lead character. The jovial performers clap, and the play actually begins. (Incidently, I found out later that the young boy is actually the male lead's young son. But I digress.)
- Cyrano's late entrance actually quite confused me. However, I was able to pick out Roxane and Christian fairly easily beforehand. Actually, I had only read a fairly rudimentary synopsis a while before seeing the play, so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect.
- I was amused at how Cyrano kicked that strange performer off the stage, and then gave the theatre owner money in reimbursement. Ah, to have that much sway over people.
- Cyrano's examples of insults towards his nose were funny. He even called it a peninsula at some point. That type of self-depreciating humour is killer.
- The fight while composing a ballad was a stroke of genius. It was exciting to watch, as well as intellectual: a perfect combination. Not to mention that the actual fencing was impressive in itself.
- The fact that a girl offered Cyrano food was clearly meant to show that all were impressed by the duel. I love how he nobly only took some water and two grapes, even though giving the money to the manager did leave him poor.
- The fact that Le Bret was able to identify the object of Cyrano's affections as Roxane showed that it was fairly obvious to begin with. His friend is right, though: regardless of appearance Cyrano is a character to be admired.
- I love how happy Cyrano got when Roxane's chaperone told him that she wanted to meet with him. Clearly, the fair lady has noticed our protagonist. But then, they are distant cousins.
- Cyrano's taking on 100 men singlehandedly seems like a fool's errand, but I did find it amusing how eagerly the rest of those present in the theatre offered to watch. Sadly, that scene itself is never shown.
- How Ragueneau is determined to salvage all poetry given to him while running a bakery by giving his customers more pastries is bad for business, but entertaining. His wife Lise's attempts to throw away the poetry is equally funny and it is absurdly amusing how obvious it is that she is having an affair with that other gentleman.
- Cyrano's confronting the Other Man is very noble, and it is humourous how quickly he and Lise backed off.
- The letter to Roxane is so sweet, as is how Cyrano says that it is memorized in his heart.
- How Cyrano distracts Roxane's chaperone with pastries is clever.
- I love the next part. It's so adorable how Roxane describes her love, and Cyrano's sighing as he thinks it is him conveys his lovesickness perfectly. Of course, his confusion is understandable: many of the things Roxane says describe him far more accurately than Christian. Granted, we find that out later but still. Unfortunately, Cyrano's sweet illusion is shattered when Roxane says "handsome" and he recoils in disappointment.
- Roxane's bandaging Cyrano's hand is cute, but story behind it is kind of perverted. I didn't really want to hear about how the lead character used to call his now love "mother", even if it was when he was young. Still, the thought of the two of them playing together as children is sweet.
- Cyrano's agreeing to protect Christian at Roxane's request reminds me of Antonio helping his love Bassanio get Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In either scenario, the title character's actions are romantically and tragically selfless. Just thought I'd point out that little parallel.
- Christian's constant "nose!" remarks while Cyrano is telling his story are brave, but foolish.
- Cyrano's saying that he is Roxane's brother is, again, rather perverted. On the other hand, in Russian the word for cousin means quite literally distant "sister" or "brother" . So I suppose I'm just quibbling over semantics.
- It's amazing how willingly Cyrano comes to Christian's aid, and even concocts the plan in which he is Christian's voice. Of course, all seemingly great plans have their downfall, as this one ultimately does.
- Cyrano's comment on how any woman will think a particular poem is written exclusively for her is offensive. Not all women are self-centered! Then again, most of his poetry and prose was probably centered around Roxane, so in a way it makes sense.
- I love how Cyrano punched that other cadet in the face for making a joke about his nose. It was an excellent way of saving face, which was exactly the point.
- I don't really see the point of the two amauteur musicians being in the next scene, but I suppose somebody did have to keep lookout. Still, they seem to be an unneccessary plot detail.
- De Guiche is a self-centered jerk. To automatically assume that Roxane is talking about him when she refers to her love in the military unit is just arrogant. Not to mention that she had never taken any previous interest in him.
- Christian's refusing Cyrano's assistance is simply short-sighted. One needs more than spur of the moment boldness to woo a lady, particularily if they get tongue-tied easily. It was funny how Christian hesistated and called Cyrano back, though. Naturally, Cyrano refused.
- How Christian handled the situation was hilarious. He just kind of froze up and didn't speak much. To paraphrase Roxane's words, he gave her skim milk when she asked for cream with how he ended up articulating his feelings.
- Obviously, Roxane is disgusted and thinks Christian no longer loves her. I find it interesting how this character equates eloquence with love, especially when most people actually aren't that good with words.
- The balcony thing is a good idea, but Christian obviously doesn't posess the delicacy neede to woo a lady to start with. Although, I do love how his words are so halting when he repeats what Cyrano says he should say. He sounded out of breath.
- Cyrano's words when he was finally allowed to speak were beautiful. Although, his explanation for why he had been so halting before was a little long-winded and fanciful.
- Cyrano's panic over Christian's request of a kiss is understandable, as he himself cannot kiss her and for Christian to reap the reward would be unfair. Cyrano's spazzing is thus spot-on, as is his explanation that he is reprimanding himself for such a bold request.
- Although, Christian does actually climb up the balcony and kiss her, which is actually a nice image.
- Cyrano's saying that he comforts himself in the knowing that it is his words Roxane is kissing and not Christian's lips is just beautiful. It's a mark of his eternal optimism.
- The thing with the monk and Roxane purposely changing the message he carried is just clever. I wouldn't be able to think that quickly on my feet. However, I do feel that Roxane and Christian's decision to marry so soon was a bad one. After all, they had only just 1st spoken in person.
- I didn't really understand how Cyrano was delaying De Guiche from seeing Roxane. It seemed as though he was telling some fanciful, ridiculous story which really made no sense. But then, I suppose that was the whole point.
- Then De Guiche, seeing that the lovers have married, orders Christian and Cyrano's unit to battle in the war. Naturally, Roxane is distraught and begs Cyrano to look after Christian. She also makes Cyrano promise that Christian will write her, not realizing exactly how much control Cyrano has over that. Ironic, isn't it?
- Then came intermission, and nobody really needs to know what I did then.
- Back to the show. The second half starts with a bunch of men huddling around a campfire. A match is lit, providing some dim light. Then the whole stage is lit up with regular lights.
- The cadets are at war, and Cyrano's friend Le Bret marvels at how Cyrano is willing to risk his life each morning to mail a letter. Cyrano makes a cheeky remark at how enemy soldiers have made a habit of missing him when they shoot. It's pretty to the point.
- The men are hungry, and urge Cyrano to cheer them up in some way. He starts to say that they should forget their earthy hunger, and look towards food of the soul, such as music. While normally I would agree with him, I get very cranky when hungry and my stomach acid eating away at my flesh is a difficult thing to disregard.
- De Guiche arrives. The cadets hate him because he's rich and can thus afford plenty of food. They talk about how he dropped the white scarf marking him as a frenchman in battle and thus won, because his foes couldn't identify him. Cyrano disagrees with this tatic stating that, like a white plume in a hat, the white scarf represents his "panache" . So, argues Cyrano, it should not be dropped else one loses all individuality. De Guiche counters with the fact that he won the battle, and defends his not picking up the scarf by stating its impossibility. Then Cyrano produces that same white scarf from his coat, effectively making a fool of his superior. I loved that part.
- Then we find out that De Guiche is a traitor in some capacity. I think he told the Spanish forces to attack when he raised a white hankerchief up. Although for what and why I don't know, as I had trouble understanding this part.
- Roxane's entrance was spectacular. I honestly thought that some terrible foe was near until she emerged from the carriage. How she made it through the Spanish lines by saying she was going to meet her lover was ingenious, and quite cheeky.
- I didn't quite understand why the men were so anxious to fly Roxane's white lace hankerchief.
- The bit with the food was hilarious. All of the men are so happy with the nourishment Roxane brought, and try to hide it from De Guiche. Naturally, he isn't fooled because they all look happier and healthier. So you just see all these nervous guys try to conceal the food in their mouths and fail miserably.
- At some point during this act there was some sort of battle with a lot of shooting and pyrotechnics. I can't seem to recall when exactly it was, but it looked amazing. There was this big flash of white light and people shot at each other.
- Then comes the emotionally poignant stuff. At some point, Cyrano confesses to Christian that he has written a good deal more than he had intended. To be precise, he wrote to Roxane 2 times a day. This shocked me, as that would have required a good deal of mental stamina and meant that Cyrano ran through enemy lines twice a day. As well, he gives Christian a farewell letter to Roxane should he die.
- When Roxane and Christian are finally alone, that's when things really begin to pick up. Roxane admits that she first loved Christian because he was handsome, but now feels guilty for her shallow thoughts when now faced with the sublime beauty of his soul, shown through the letters. In fact, she wishes that he were ugly so that she could be sure she truly loved him and would thus love him regardless of any physical impediment.
- Naturally, Cyrano is nearby eavesdropping. When he and Christian are alone, Christian encourages Cyrano to tell Roxane the truth. After all, it is his soul Roxane loves. As Christian has come to realize, Cyrano is that soul. Furthermore, Christian says that he wants to be loved for who he is, stupid and pretty, or not at all. Cyrano, even after all he has heard, is still doubtful that Roxane loves him.
- Then Christian leaves to go fight, with the intent to die. (At least, it looked like that to me)
- Then Roxane enters and she and Cyrano are alone. He asks her if what she said is true. Roxane responds that yes, she would love Christian even if he were hideous. Cyrano starts to tell her the truth, but as he begins there's a commotion and Christian is brought in, dead. Cyrano realizes that he can't tell Roxane what they did, in order to preserve her perception of the wonderful, perfect being that she thinks Christian is. To make Christian's dying moments happy ones, Cyrano whispers in his ear that he told Roxane and that she did actually choose Christian.
- Roxane sees and reads the the letter clutched in Christian's hand when he was shot, the letter that Cyrano gave him earlier. Then, at the sight of her love's dying body, Roxane collapses. Cyrano tells her to leave and as Roxane is carried away he rallies his unit to fight enemy forces until relief arrives.
- This last act is the most sad of all. I didn't understand why there were nuns and church music until one of them spoke.
- I think that it's ironic that they put emphasis on the fact that Roxane is a widow and they simply nuns when her own marriage was never consummated. Also, I love how they talk about converting Cyrano and how he teases one nun by saying he ate meat.
- As well, I think it's tragic that no bystander ever stopped to wonder exactly why Cyrano was so diligent in visiting Roxane simply because they were distant cousins.
- It's amazing how Roxane still wears black clothes after 15 years.
- De Guiche, Le Bret and Ragueneau all talking about what happened to Cyrano while Roxane herself has no idea is an excellent plot device. That way, the audience knows of the unfortunate accident but Roxane sadly doesn't.
- I find it funny how Roxane doesn't question Cyrano's slight tardiness, even though he's never been late before. Details, people, details.
- I gasped when I saw the blood all over Cyrano's eye as he entered. Knowing that he was dying and still coming to visit her, it's just so unspeakably heroic and tragic. And then his spiel about how a visitor interrupted his business, which is actually all too apropriate.
- By far, the most emotional moment was when Cyrano read "Christian's" final letter. It really did sound and feel like his own final goodbye, read during his last hours. Naturally, Roxane realizes that the light is too dim and the letter too tattered to actually be read. Then she finally realizes that it is Cyrano who she actually loves, and even though he still denies this, she knows it to be true.
- The three gentlemen from before finally enter again, and tell Roxane that Cyrano actually is dying.
- Cyrano's final speech seemed fairly long-winded, but then so did all his speeches. Finally, he dies just after he mentions that he's never lost his "panache", crumpling to the ground as his friends and love sob madly.
Conclusion: This is a fantastic, funny, tragic and at the same time absolutely heart-wrenching play. Everybody should see it at least once.