Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, on tour May-June 2004

ONE LONDON critic recently described Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac as “indestructible”. I think that’s right. There’s something about this story of a swashbuckling poet cursed with an enormously ugly nose that tugs at the heart strings every time.

As if to prove the point, Catherine Wheels theatre company has come up with a version that condenses a three-hour play into 70 minutes and cuts the cast list down from 30-odd to just three. Does it work? Well, I can’t vouch for the audience of ten year olds (although their attention was undoubtedly held throughout), but I certainly left with a tear in my eye.

This adaptation by Belgium’s Jo Roets (translated by Audrey van Tuykom) cuts out much of the play’s historical context in 17th century France in order to concentrate on the love triangle between the brilliant but shy Cyrano, the beautiful and high-minded Roxanne and the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. This is the emotive heart of the drama and, with Ronnie Simon as Cyrano, Jordan Young as Christian and Veronica Leer as Roxanne, it retains all the tragic resonances of a love that is too intense to reveal itself.

In front of a young audience there are two other themes that come to the fore. One is the idea that looks aren’t everything. Cyrano’s nasal deformity is an insignificant blemish compared with his spiritual beauty. It’s the same story as The Ugly Duckling, a pertinent archetype for an audience approaching the insecurities of adolescence.

The other theme is to do with art. For although Cyrano can take on an army of 100 single-handedly, his greatest power lies in his gift for poetry. It is his lyricism and emotional honesty that distinguishes him from the blunt Christian. What better role model to produce a generation of rounded young people?

Catherine Wheels, however, is not the kind of patronising company that would labour such wholesome values. They’re there if you want them. Rather, Gill Robertson’s production is a swift and sleek piece of entertainment that looks the audience straight in the eye and engages us with a good story well told. It makes a virtue of its economy of means, with three honest performances, free of artifice yet innately theatrical, that take us cleanly to the play’s emotional heart.

Cyrano can be seen at the following venues in the Highlands and Island:
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, Tuesday 18 May 2004
Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Monday 14 June
Corran Halls, Oban, Tuesday 15 June

© Mark Fisher, 2004