The charm of director Mickie Mosley's new production of "Cyrano de Bergerac," lies in its fanciful capture of the soul of the poetic, eloquent, and brave character played with bluster and wit by lead actor Richard Boynton.
The sheer length of the play, three hours, with two intermissions, during which Boynton is on stage nearly the entire time, is an exercise in commitment.
He plays the role of Cyrano with using the word introduced by the play's author and used throughout the script panache.
"Cyrano" was written by French author Edmond Rostand and was first performed on the stage in 1897. The entire play is written in verse. Anthony Burgess did the fine translation for this production.
Cyrano was in every way a gallant, a brilliant poet, musician and respected fighter who lives according to a code of honor. He is exactly the person that most everyone would want to be, except he is ugly.
As it happens, he is in love with his cousin, the beautiful Roxana, whose affections are reserved for a handsome but witless young soldier, Christian.
Knowing that Roxana would be won by the language of romance a language that Christian does not speak but in which the brilliant Cyrano is fluent, Cyrano proposes to be Christian's surrogate writer of love letters aimed at securing Roxana's love.
In this, he completely succeeds, leaving him to yearn after the passion shared by the two that might have been his. But Cyrano never allows himself to be jealous of Christian.
There are many lively scenes both comical and poignant, featuring several notable characters. Among them the vengeful and jealous Comte de Guiche (Patrick McEvoy). McEvoy brings de Guiche fully to life.
When Boynton first lands on the stage, his slight form belies the power he uses to deliver the play's messages. He seems to be enjoying himself throughout.
Phillipe Miccoli, in a relatively small role as a Capuchin monk, especially stood out, as does Sally Burns in another small role as Roxana's governess and later as a nun.
Joseph Donofrio charmed as Ragueneau the baker, who composes verses in which to wrap his cakes.
The imaginative set and colorful costumes complemented the tall trees framing the stage.
The only slight disappointment was the role of Roxana as played by Michelle Vallentyne. By turns saucy and solemn, she did not measure up to the lover for whom the soulful and deep Cyrano could long.
The cast was directed to perform the script with French accents, some of which made the words difficult to understand.
While being true to the play's origins, a bit of British English would have made the play much easier to comprehend for the long three hours.
That said, the production is well worth seeing and both director and producer deserve credit for their putting it on with such panache.
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