MADE IN NORTHAMPTON Season to Premiere CYRANO DE BERGERAC, April 29

Royal & Derngate's Made in Northampton 2015 season starts in April with the sweeping epic, Cyrano de Bergerac. Directed by Lorne Campbell, Anthony Burgess' translation of Edmund Rostand's classic play is a co-production with Northern Stage, and takes to the Royal stage in Northampton from Friday 3 April, transferring to Newcastle from 29 April.

A poet and a soldier, a brawler and an incurable romantic, Cyrano do Bergerac is a hero - the first among men but totally lost among women. He is blessed with being brilliant at everything and cursed by having the biggest nose in all of France.

Cyrano is hopelessly in love with Roxane, his equal in wit but every bit as beautiful as he is ugly. Afraid of confessing his love, he becomes a protector and confidante. Christian, a handsome cadet but not the sharpest sword in the armoury, catches Roxane's eye and, with his mighty heart breaking, Cyrano sets about using his unequalled skill as a poet to write ravishing love letters between the two.

The panache of one of literature's most famous love triangles is brought to life in this epic production, staged with passion, bravado, joy and heartache. Duels are fought, honour defended, villains defeated, and cakes eaten.

Cyrano de Bergerac is directed by Northern Stage Artistic Director Lorne Campbell, who comments: "Cyrano is scaled up in every way, not just his nose, but his bravery and his vulnerability, his honour and his self-loathing, his soaring poetry and his profound inarticulacy. This is what I love about the play, it takes that ridiculous deluded mess of a person we all carry around inside ourselves and lets them out onto the stage, bigger and better while also more absurd and crippled than we could ever be."

Lorne, whose credits include Carthage Must Be Destroyed and Distracted at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre, will be working with designer Jean Chan (James and the Giant Peach, Dundee Rep, The James Plays, National Theatre/National Theatre of Scotland as Associate Designer). Lighting design is by Tim Lutkin who recently won an Olivier for Chimerica, with other credits including The Crucible (Old Vic), Royal & Derngate's Christmas show Merlin andThe Go-Between, a co-production between Royal & Derngate, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Derby Theatre. Sound design is by Alasdair Mcrae whose recent work includes Get Santa! and The Bloody Great Border Ballad Project for Northern Stage and Gastronauts for the Royal Court.

Nigel Barrett whose credits include There Has Possibly Been An Incident, Royal Exchange Manchester/ SohoTheatre, Richard III - An Arab Tragedy, for RSC/Bouffes du Nord and The Passion with Michael Sheen, takes the central role of Cyrano. Nigel recently won The Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2015 along with Louise Mari, and he is a member of the Shunt Collective. Cath Whitefield (Electra, The Gate, Othello, RSC) appears as Roxane and Chris Jared (All's Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, RSC) completes the legendary love triangle as Christian. The cast also includes John Paul Connolly (Twelfth Night, Richard III, Shakespeare's Globe, West End and Broadway) as Le Bret/Ligniere and George Potts (1984, Headlong Theatre; The Silver Tassie, National Theatre) as De Guiche/Rageneau.

The Chorus is made up of six emerging performers from Northern Stage's NORTH scheme - a 21 week paid training programme to support and develop young actors in the North East of England. Lorne Campbell explains, "NORTH is part of Northern Stage's commitment to creating access and opportunities for working class actors with exceptional talent, so we're delighted that they're working with us on our big spring production this year." Kylie Ann Ford, Sisley Henning, Sian Armstrong, Samantha Bell, James Hunter and Matt Howdon will take on dozens of ensemble roles.

Cyrano de Bergerac can be seen at Royal & Derngate, Northampton from Friday 3 to Saturday 25 April. Tickets priced from £29 to £10* can be booked by calling Box Office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalanadderngate.co.uk. The production then plays at Northern Stage from Wednesday 29 to Saturday 16 May (call 0191 230 5151 or visit www.northernstage.co.uk).

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