Theatre: Cyrano de Bergerac
Feb. 25th, 2020 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livSo when I was a teenager I was considerably obsessed with Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. When I heard rumours of an updated version with rap and nudity I wasn't that enthused, but several of my friends posted rave reviews, so I arranged to go with cjwatson
Cyrano de Bergerac at the London Playhouse, written by Martin Crimp and directed by Jamie Lloyd, is just breathtakingly good. The production is incredibly minimalist; there was never really anything on stage but orange plastic chairs and microphones, and at one point a background actor lettered
I completely adored the translation, from the opening scene where the duel is reimagined as a rap battle and onwards. There's all kinds of lovely word play, and it just really works well as spoken word poetry shading into rap numbers. It felt true to the spirit of the original, but cleverly updated. I really liked Anita-Joy Uwajeh's Roxanne; she's a bit pretentious, a bit overly idealistic, but the play made it clear that what was being laughed at was her immaturity rather than the concept of being a smart, politically engaged young Black feminist. Which fits really well with the original Roxanne who is portrayed as a historical Précieuse in order to slightly mock contemporary women's libbers. Tom Edden's slimy de Guiche is also perfect. And the background cast are all pretty good too, especially Michele Austin's gender-swapped Ragueneau; the role is slightly too small for such a magnificent performer but I was full of delight every time she had a line or verse to deliver.
Also they took the bromance between Cyrano and Christian out of subtext and made it a focus, which definitely improved my enjoyment of the play. Especially the kissing.
It turned outcjwatson didn't actually know the plot ahead of the show. I was just as enthralled as he was even though it's a translation of a play I used to know almost by heart. And I really want a copy of the script, because it's such a magnificent translation.
So, thank you lovely people whose reviews convinced me to go and see this. I'm only sorry I can't pay that forward since it's right at the end of the show's run and the last few performances are sold out.
cjwatsonCyrano de Bergerac at the London Playhouse, written by Martin Crimp and directed by Jamie Lloyd, is just breathtakingly good. The production is incredibly minimalist; there was never really anything on stage but orange plastic chairs and microphones, and at one point a background actor lettered
I love words aloneon the otherwise completely blank scenery. Which means that attention is completely focused on the extremely good poetry performed by extremely good actors. I hadn't really heard of the lead, James McAvoy, and if I had I generally don't seek out film actors moonlighting on stage. But my goodness, he is fantastic in the role. They didn't even bother giving him a prosthetic nose, you just used your imagination based on the dialogue.
I completely adored the translation, from the opening scene where the duel is reimagined as a rap battle and onwards. There's all kinds of lovely word play, and it just really works well as spoken word poetry shading into rap numbers. It felt true to the spirit of the original, but cleverly updated. I really liked Anita-Joy Uwajeh's Roxanne; she's a bit pretentious, a bit overly idealistic, but the play made it clear that what was being laughed at was her immaturity rather than the concept of being a smart, politically engaged young Black feminist. Which fits really well with the original Roxanne who is portrayed as a historical Précieuse in order to slightly mock contemporary women's libbers. Tom Edden's slimy de Guiche is also perfect. And the background cast are all pretty good too, especially Michele Austin's gender-swapped Ragueneau; the role is slightly too small for such a magnificent performer but I was full of delight every time she had a line or verse to deliver.
Also they took the bromance between Cyrano and Christian out of subtext and made it a focus, which definitely improved my enjoyment of the play. Especially the kissing.
It turned out
cjwatson didn't actually know the plot ahead of the show. I was just as enthralled as he was even though it's a translation of a play I used to know almost by heart. And I really want a copy of the script, because it's such a magnificent translation.So, thank you lovely people whose reviews convinced me to go and see this. I'm only sorry I can't pay that forward since it's right at the end of the show's run and the last few performances are sold out.
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Date: 2020-02-26 02:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-26 05:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-26 06:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-26 07:29 pm (UTC)I thoroughly enjoyed Gérard Depardieu in the French film adaptation, but I have very unpopular opinion: Steve Martin played the role with even better panache in Roxanne.