It starts in a theatre with an audience waiting for a show to begin, there is a weight of expectation and history.
And so, we find the chorus of this new production on a near empty stage discussing what the show will be. It’s all seduction, then a fight, and a nose – it’s very big. Traditionally it’s about Cyrano who falls for his friend and cousin Roxanne, and it doesn’t end well. But why keep the old stories? This is a night thick with both fresh possibilities and metaphor as they discuss cooking and not following the recipe.
What if there was a clean start, with the characters meeting for the first time?
When Cyrano meets the brilliant, beautiful and eloquent Roxanne, she (Cyrano) is smitten and initially a little tongue tied. Which is unusual as she is a swaggering charmer and dazzling wordsmith of rapier wit. But this hides an insecurity, something that can’t be named.
Roxanne is a romantic with a hunger for knowledge and a weakness for poetry, but she also has a liking for Yan, a soldier with a chiselled torso who is, unfortunately, as dum as a bag of hair. He doesn’t see the appeal of words but is at least smart enough to realise that they form the key to Roxanne’s heart, even if he is more interested in getting into her pants.
If only there was a perfect person with the soul of a poet and the body of a Greek God …
Cyrano is played by Virginia Gay with the requisite charm but also straight-faced humour as she mutters in exasperation with the other characters. Some of that frustration is driven by the sometimes bewildered chorus, who make comedic and meta comments on the how the production is progressing while being drawn into the action. A veteran thesp’ has a love of the classic work, pomp, rules and folderol and is convinced that a well-rounded part is imminent. A sensible “chef” gives sometimes sage advice, while the new girl struggles with word play. Roxanne is more than just an object - clever, luminous, impassioned and sometimes salty as she is wooed by Yan as he gradually realises that he is there for comic relief.
It’s cleverly and lovingly done, gliding with ease through a plot that has more in common with Steve Martin’s movie (Roxanne) than Rostand’s original.
A love letter to romance, hope, longing, possibility and taking a risk and to the very act of making theatre.
The glittery ending might be a little too saccharine but it’s an uplifting, funny and sassy gender-flipped rom-com retelling.
Seductive stuff.
Show times: 1 to 25 (not 12, 19) August 2024 – times vary.
Tickets: £22.75 (£15.75) (other concessions available)
Suitability: 14+
Note: Part of TravFest24