BWW Reviews: CYRANO DE BERGERAC is a delightful story of love and longing, filled with many laughs.
By: Jade Kops Nov. 16, 2014
Saturday 15 November, 2015, Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay NSW
Sydney Theatre Company brings Edmond Rostand's CYRANO DE BERGERAC to life with a new staging of Andrew Upton's adaptation of the classic love story. The fast paced, witty interpretation starring Richard Roxburgh, as the soldier poet with the unfortunate nose, Cyrano De Bergerac, had the audience roaring with laughter at the clever dialogue and moved with emotion at the unfolding love story.
Alice Babidge and Renee Mulder have designed a modern minimalist set with exposed gallery balconies surrounding the main stage on which a smaller, ornate proscenium arch and raised stage forms the set for Act I. Lighting, music and effects transform the simple stage to the different locations for the other 4 Acts. Babidge and Mulder's costumes help place the time as mid 17th Century with the commoner townspeople in simple, dark coloured dirty clothes, the soldiers in sturdy leather boots and ever present swords, the ladies in corseted, full skirted dresses and the nobility in vibrant colours with luxury fabrics, ribbons, bows and plenty of plumage.
The audience is effectively silenced and drawn into the performance by a bell ringer in the Dress Circle signalling that the show within the show, was about to commence. The dialogue, translated by Marion Potts and adapted by Upton, ranges from smart, funny and laced with innuendo, to beautifully romantic and tragic and allows for a range of emotions as the various stories unfold. The theatre auditorium is utilised to extend the space of the created theatre to include the audience and the balconies and proscenium allow for height differentials and many different locations where the action occurs or to simply giving solo musicians a position from which to perform without interrupting the drama unfolding below.
Roxburgh gives Cyrano the right balance of humour, longing and bravado. His sword fight with Valvert (Dale March), whilst composing a ballad, is well executed and highly amusing. His declarations of love are heartbreaking. Alan Dukes' Montfleury provides a comic element in Act 1 as the banished actor as does Bruce Spence's drunken Ligniere and David Whitney's patissier come aspiring poet Ragueneau.
Eryn Jean Norvill plays the beautiful ingénue Roxane with the right level of aristocracy and innocence and has a light gentle tone of nobility in contrast to her companion or Duenna (Julia Zemiro). The Duenna provides a comic balance against Roxane innocence. Chris Ryan's Christian is well presented as a good looking bumbling idiot that has caught Roxane's attentions and his inability to voice his feelings is highlighted when paired with Cyrano's creativity and passion.
Whilst this is a period piece, set in Renaissance France, it was refreshing to hear that the directors have chosen to present the piece without accents, instead relying on the dialogue and costumes to place the characters in France whilst the performers maintain their own voices ensuring that none of the magnificent dialogue is lost in accents. Depending on the character, some, as with Roxane, did employ more aristocratic tones inkeeping with their positions of nobility whilst others that identified more as the common person remained with a more normal tone. The dialogue was all presented with ease and understanding with good timing to move the plot along or allow the audience to be moved by the gravitas of the emotion.
Whilst the original was written in 1897, this interpretation ensures that it is accessible to modern audiences. CYRANO DE BERGERAC is a well-executed production with a strong cast and would appeal to many types of people particularly those that enjoy romance, comedy and classic stories.
Sydney Theatre, 22 Hickson Road Walsh Bay
11 November - 20 December 2014
Photos: Brett Boardman
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