Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac, the man whom the play is named for and based upon.
Written by Edmond Rostand
Characters Cyrano de Bergerac
Roxane
Christian
Date premiered 1897
Original language French
Genre Romance
Setting France, 1640
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. There was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, but the play bears very scant resemblance to the life of the actual person.
The entire play is written in verse, in rhyming couplets of 12 syllables per line, very close to the Alexandrine format, but the verses sometimes lack a caesura. It is also meticulously researched, down to the names of the members of the Académie française and the dames précieuses glimpsed before the performance in the first scene.
The play has been translated and performed many times, and is responsible for introducing the word "panache" into the English language.[1]
Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet (nobleman serving as a soldier) in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being a remarkable duelist, he is a gifted poet and is also shown to be a musician. However, he has an extremely large nose, which is a target for his own self-doubt. This doubt prevents him from expressing his love for his distant cousin, the beautiful Roxane, as he believes that his ugliness forbids him to "dream of being loved by even an ugly woman."
Other notable English-speaking Cyranos were Ralph Richardson, DeVeren Bookwalter, Derek Jacobi, Richard Chamberlain, and Christopher Plummer, who played the part in Rostand's original play and won a Tony Award for the 1973 musical adaptation. Kevin Kline played the role in a Broadway production in 2007, with Jennifer Garner playing Roxane and Daniel Sunjata as Christian.
Other notable English-speaking Cyranos were Ralph Richardson, DeVeren Bookwalter, Derek Jacobi, Richard Chamberlain, and Christopher Plummer, who played the part in Rostand's original play and won a Tony Award for the 1973 musical adaptation. Kevin Kline played the role in a Broadway production in 2007, with Jennifer Garner playing Roxane and Daniel Sunjata as Christian. A taped version of the production was broadcast on PBS in 2009.
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Cyrano de Bergerac
Sunday 23 March 2008 20:00-22:15 (Radio 3)
By Edmond Rostand and translated from the French by Anthony Burgess.
Set in 17th century France, Rostand's play features the eponymous poet-swordsman with a misshapen nose who falls in love with the beautiful Roxane. She loves the dashing Gascon soldier Christian de Neuvillette and Cyrano finds himself writing love poems on his behalf.
Duration:
2 hours 15 minutes
Playlist:
Cyrano ...... Kenneth Branagh
Roxane ...... Jodhi May
De Guiche ...... John Shrapnel
Christian ...... Tom Hiddleston
Rageuneau ...... Jimmy Yuill
Montfleury ...... Stephen Critchlow
Bellerose/Capuc ...... Hugh Dickson
Le Bret ...... Gerard Horan
Carbon/Cuigy ...... John McAndrew
Ligniere ...... Steve Hodson
Duenna/Marthe ...... Frances Jeater
Mother Superior ...... Susan Jamieson
Sister Claire ...... Joannah Tincey
Valvert ...... Oliver le Sueur
Director: David Timson.