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CYRANO DE BERGERAC

By S. James Wegg

Making its third appearance (previously staged with Christopher
Plummer in 1962 and Colm Feore 15 years ago in the title role) at
the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Edmond Rostand’s greatest hit
seems to become more relevant with every passing year since its
widely successful première in 1897.
Using Anthony Burgess’ 1984 translation (“We do not take
kindly to rhyme on the British stage,” he writes of his own work)
seems ideal for a theatre company so dedicated to the Bard’s
work and whose actors are so wonderfully steeped in the
associated styles and traditions. Sadly, director Donna Feore’s
decision to keep “several passages in French, thus allowing our
audiences to hear Rostand in his original voice” is unwelcome on
several fronts. Of the principals en français, only Colm Feore has
enough skill to render Rostand’s lines with panache and
conviction. Too many of the others sound like vote–currying
politicians whose mother tongue is never in doubt. So many bon
mots battle with Burgess’ own brilliance that the out–of–country
crowds may wonder if they’re in Stratford anymore.
That problem aside, here’s a production to place near the top
of the must–see theatre list for 2009.
Overall, the design team has come up with an efficient,
largely convincing solution to the visual challenges of the quintet
of settings spread over a 15–year period.
The opening organized chaos of the play within–the–play
(Robert Persichini makes a delightfully ample over–the–top
matinée queen, Montfleury) fills the eye with the colourful
ensemble and builds steadily towards Bergerac’s ode to
deformity. Key to the plot is the hero’s extra large nose (“Is that
monument open to the public?”). The makeup wizards have come
up with a profile–rich solution that is the butt of largely unsaid
taunts (Bergerac is a master swordsman) and readily believable as

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