Cyrano de Bergerac (play)

Act I – A Performance at the Hôtel Burgundy

The play opens in Paris, 1640, in the theatre of the Hôtel Burgundy. Members of the audience slowly arrive, representing a cross-section of Parisian society from pickpockets to nobility. Christian de Neuvillette, a handsome new cadet, arrives with Lignière, a drunkard who he hopes will identify the young woman with whom he has fallen in love. Lignière recognizes her as Roxane, and tells Christian about her and the Count de Guiche's scheme to marry her off to the compliant Viscount Valvert. Meanwhile, Ragueneau and Lebret are expecting Cyrano de Bergerac, who has banished the actor Montfleury from the stage for a month. After Lignière leaves, Christian intercepts a pickpocket and, in return for his freedom, the pickpocket tells Christian of a plot against Lignière. Christian departs to try to warn him.

The play "Clorise" begins with Montfleury's entrance. Cyrano disrupts the play, forces Montfleury off stage, and compensates the manager for the loss of admission fees. The crowd is going to disperse when Cyrano lashes out at a pesky busybody, then is confronted by Valvert and duels with him while composing a ballade, wounding (and possibly killing) him as he ends the refrain (as promised: he ends each refrain with "When I end the refrain, 'Thrust Home'.") When the crowd has cleared the theater, Cyrano and Le Bret remain behind, and Cyrano confesses his love for Roxane. Roxane's duenna then arrives, and asks where Roxane may meet Cyrano privately. Lignière is then brought to Cyrano, having learned that one hundred hired thugs are waiting to ambush him on his way home. Cyrano, now emboldened, vows to take on the entire mob single-handed, and he leads a procession of officers, actors and musicians to the Porte de Nesle.

Act II – The Poets' Cookshop

The next morning, at Ragueneau's bake shop, Ragueneau supervises various apprentice cooks in their preparations. Cyrano arrives, anxious about his meeting with Roxane. He is followed by a musketeer, a paramour of Ragueneau's domineering wife Lise, then the regular gathering of impoverished poets who take advantage of Ragueneau's hospitality. Cyrano composes a letter to Roxane expressing his deep and unconditional love for her, warns Lise about her indiscretion with the musketeer, and when Roxane arrives he signals Ragueneau to leave them alone.

Roxane and Cyrano talk privately as she bandages his hand (injured from the fracas at the Port de Nesle); she thanks him for defeating Valvert at the theater, and talks about a man with whom she has fallen in love. Cyrano thinks that she is talking about him at first, and is ecstatic, but Roxane describes her beloved as "handsome," and tells him that she is in love with Christian de Neuvillette. Roxane fears for Christian's safety in the predominantly Gascon company of Cadets, so she asks Cyrano to befriend and protect him. This he agrees to do.

After she leaves, Cyrano's captain arrives with the cadets to congratulate him on his victory from the night before. They are followed by a huge crowd, including de Guiche and his entourage, but Cyrano soon drives them away. Le Bret takes him aside and chastises him for his behavior, but Cyrano responds haughtily. The Cadets press him to tell the story of the fight, teasing the newcomer Christian de Neuvillette. When Cyrano recounts the tale, Christian displays his own form of courage by interjecting several times with references to Cyrano's nose. Cyrano is angry, but remembering his promise to Roxane, he holds in his temper.

Eventually Cyrano explodes, the shop is evacuated, and Cyrano reveals his identity as Roxane's cousin. Christian confesses his love for Roxane but his inability to woo because of his lack of intellect and wit. When Cyrano tells Christian that Roxane expects a letter from him, Christian is despondent, having no eloquence in such matters. Cyrano then offers his services, including his own unsigned letter to Roxane. The Cadets and others return to find the two men embracing, and are flabbergasted. The musketeer from before, thinking it was safe to do so, teases Cyrano about his nose and receives a slap in the face while the Cadets rejoice.

Act III – Roxane's Kiss

Outside Roxane's house Ragueneau is conversing with Roxane's duenna. When Cyrano arrives, Roxane comes down and they talk about Christian: Roxane says that Christian's letters have been breathtaking—he is more intellectual than even Cyrano, she declares. She also says that she loves Christian.

When de Guiche arrives, Cyrano hides inside Roxane's house. De Guiche tells Roxane that he has come to say farewell. He has been made a colonel of an army regiment that is leaving that night to fight in the war with Spain. He mentions that the regiment includes Cyrano's guards, and he grimly predicts that he and Cyrano will have a reckoning. Afraid for Christian's safety if he should go to the front, Roxane quickly suggests that the best way for de Guiche to seek revenge on Cyrano would be for him to leave Cyrano and his cadets behind while the rest of the regiment goes on to military glory. After much flirtation from Roxane, de Guiche believes he should stay close by, concealed in a local monastery. When Roxane implies that she would feel more for de Guiche if he went to war, he agrees to march on steadfastly, leaving Cyrano and his cadets behind. He leaves, and Roxane makes the duenna promise she will not tell Cyrano that Roxane has robbed him of a chance to go to war.

Roxane expects Christian to come visit her, and she tells the duenna to make him wait if he does. Cyrano presses Roxane to disclose that instead of questioning Christian on any particular subject, she plans to make Christian improvise about love. Although he tells Christian the details of her plot, when Roxane and her duenna leave, he calls for Christian who has been waiting nearby. Cyrano tries to prepare Christian for his meeting with Roxane, urging him to remember lines Cyrano has written. Christian however refuses saying he wants to speak to Roxane in his own words. Cyrano bows to this saying, "Speak for yourself, sir."

During their meeting Christian makes a fool of himself trying to speak seductively to Roxane. Roxane storms into her house, confused and angry. Thinking quickly, Cyrano makes Christian stand in front of Roxane's balcony and speak to her while Cyrano stands under the balcony whispering to Christian what to say. Eventually, Cyrano shoves Christian aside and, under cover of darkness, pretends to be Christian, wooing Roxane himself. In the process, he wins a kiss for Christian.

Roxane and Christian are secretly married by a Capuchin while Cyrano waits outside to prevent De Guiche from disrupting the impromptu wedding. Their happiness is short-lived: de Guiche, angry to have lost Roxane, declares that he is sending the Cadets of Gascony to the front lines of the war with Spain. De Guiche triumphantly tells Cyrano that the wedding night will have to wait. Under his breath, Cyrano remarks that the news fails to upset him.

Roxane, afraid for Christian, urges Cyrano to promise to keep him safe, to keep him out of dangerous situations, to keep him dry and warm, and to keep him faithful. Cyrano says that he will do what he can but that he cannot promise anything. Roxane begs Cyrano to promise to make Christian write to her every day. Brightening, Cyrano announces confidently that he can promise that.

Act IV – The Gascon Cadets

The siege of Arras. The Gascon Cadets are among many French forces now cut off by the Spanish, and they are starving. Cyrano, meanwhile, has been writing in Christian's name twice a day, smuggling letters across enemy lines. De Guiche, whom the Cadets despise, arrives and chastises them; Cyrano responds with his usual bravura, and de Guiche then signals a spy to tell the Spanish to attack the Cadets, informing them that they must hold the line until relief arrives. Then a coach arrives, and Roxane emerges from it. She tells how she was able to flirt her way through the Spanish lines. Cyrano tells Christian about the letters, and provides him a farewell letter to give to Roxane if he dies. After de Guiche departs, Roxane provides plenty of food and drink with the assistance of the coach's driver, Ragueneau. De Guiche attempts to convince Roxane to leave the battlefield for a second time. When she refuses, de Guiche says he will not leave a lady behind. This impresses the cadets who offer him their leftovers, which de Guiche declines but ends up catching the cadets' accent which makes him even more popular with the cadets. Roxane also tells Christian that, because of the letters, she has grown to love him for his soul alone, and would still love him even if he were ugly.

Christian tells this to Cyrano, and then persuades Cyrano to tell Roxane the truth about the letters, saying he has to be loved for "the fool that he is" to be truly loved at all. Cyrano disbelieves what Christian claims Roxane has said, until she tells him so as well. But, before Cyrano can tell her the truth, Christian is brought back to the camp, having been fatally shot. Cyrano realizes that, in order to preserve Roxane's image of an eloquent Christian, he cannot tell her the truth. The battle ensues, a distraught Roxane collapses and is carried off by de Guiche and Ragueneau, and Cyrano rallies the Cadets to hold back the Spanish until relief arrives.

The second-to-last scene. First performance of the play. Published in "l'illustration", 8 January 1898

Act V – Cyrano's Gazette

Fifteen years later, at a convent outside Paris. Roxane now resides here, eternally mourning her beloved Christian. She is visited by de Guiche, who is now a good friend and now sees Cyrano as an equal (and has been promoted to duke), Le Bret, and Ragueneau (who has lost his wife, bakery and is now a candlelighter for Molière), and she expects Cyrano to come by as he always has with news of the outside world. On this day, however, he has been mortally wounded by someone who dropped a huge log on his head from a tall building. Upon arriving to deliver his "gazette" to Roxane, knowing it will be his last, he asks Roxane if he can read "Christian's" farewell letter. She gives it to him, and he reads it aloud as it grows dark. Listening to his voice, she realizes that it is Cyrano who was the author of all the letters, but Cyrano denies this to his death. Ragueneau and Le Bret return, telling Roxane of Cyrano's injury. While Cyrano grows delirious, his friends weep and Roxane tells him that she loves him. He combats various foes, half imaginary and half symbolic, conceding that he has lost all but one important thing – his panache – as he dies in Le Bret and Ragueneau's arms.

Later stage versions

• 1970 Anthony Burgess wrote a new translation and adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, which had its world premiere at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Paul Hecht was Cyrano. Also in the cast were Len Cariou as Christian, and Roberta Maxwell as Roxane. A later production was the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed 1983 stage production, starring Derek Jacobi as Cyrano and Alice Krige (later Sinéad Cusack) as Roxane, which was videotaped and broadcast on television in 1985. For this production, Burgess very significantly reworked his earlier translation; both Burgess translations have appeared in book form.
• 1973 A musical adaptation by Anthony Burgess, called Cyrano and starring Christopher Plummer (who won a Tony Award for his performance), appeared in Boston and then on Broadway. Twenty years later, a Dutch musical stage adaptation was translated into English and produced on Broadway as Cyrano: The Musical. Both the 1973 and 1993 versions were critical and commercial failures. In the same year, the Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev wrote the musical The Furious Gasconian, based on the play.
• 1977 A condensed version of Rostand's play, in prose, was written by the Scottish writer Tom Gallacher and performed at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
• 1983 - 85 Emily Frankel^[5] wrote a condensed prose adaptation for her husband John Cullum which was first performed at Syracuse Stage, directed by Arthur Storchin 1983, then at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in 1984. A national tour in 1985-1986 concluded with a month's stay at Baltimore's Morris Mechanic Theatre.
• 1989 Off Broadway the play has been staged several times, including a New York City parks tour starring Frank Muller, produced by the Riverside Shakespeare Company.^[6]
• 1992 John Wells wrote an adaptation called Cyrano, first presented at the Haymarket Theatre in London.^[7]
• 1995 Jatinder Verma wrote and directed an adaptation in English, Hindi and Urdu set in 1930s India starring Naseeruddin Shah. The play opened at the National Theatre, London in October.
• 1997 Pierre Lebeau starred in the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde's 1996 production. A great success, the January production was reprised in July (without air conditioning). In November, Antony Sher performed the title role in the Lyric Theatre's production directed by partner Gregory Doran. Frank Langella created and directed and performed the title role in a stripped-down version of the play simply titled Cyrano. Cyrano de Bergerac is one of the two plays "performed" during Ken Ludwig's comedic play, Moon Over Buffalo, the other being Private Lives.
• 2004 Barksdale Theatre in Richmond began its 50th Anniversary season with a production of Emily Frankel's Cyrano, starring David Bridgewater.
• 2005 A new adaptation written in verse by Barry Kornhauser was produced by The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, under the direction of Artistic Director Michael Kahn, and went on to become the most highly honored of DC's plays that year winning multiple Helen Hayes Awards including "Outstanding Play."
• 2007 A new translation of the play by Ranjit Bolt opened at Bristol Old Vic in May.^[8] Sound & Fury, a Los Angeles-based comedy trio, presented their parody of the play, called Cyranose! in L.A. at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in September 2007. It was also filmed and released on DVD.
• 2011 Another new translation by Michael Hollinger had its premier at the Folger Theatre, Washington, D.C., in April. Directed by Aaron Posner and produced by Janet Griffin, the adaptation is an accessible American translation that is true to the intent and sensibility of the original.
• 2009 The Stratford Shakespeare Festival performed the play during their 2009 season, starring Colm Feore in the title role. This production was unique in that it combined the translation by Anthony Burgess with portions of the original French text, taking advantage of Canadian bilingualism for dramatic effect.
• 2006 Barry Wyner loosely based his new musical Calvin Berger on Rostand's play.
• 2012 Cyrano de Bergerac ran from 11 October to 25 November with Douglas Hodge in the lead at the Roundabout Theatre for a limited engagement.^[9][10] USA Today reported an additional engagement in the spring.^[11]
• 2013 The Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey presented a version directed by Gene Simakowicz as part of their annual Shakespeare in the Parks tour. The version was based on adaptation from Edmund Rostand's original play and starred Jon Ciccareli as Cyrano, Laura Barbiea as Roxane and Matt Hansen as Christian.^[12]
• 2013 The play was adapted by Glyn Maxwell and performed at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in Chester^[13]
• 2014 the Sydney Theatre Company presented a version of the play adapted by Andrew Upton with Richard Roxburgh in the lead role, Eryn Jean Norvill as Roxane and Julia Zemiro as Duenna.^{[14][15][16][17]}
• 2015 A new and gender-swapped translation was adapted and directed by Professor Doug Zschiegner with Niagara University Theatre titled, CyranA.^[18]
• 2016 Theatre Latté Da premiered a new musical adaptation titled C. at the Ritz Theater in March in Minneapolis. The production was directed by the company's founder and artistic director Peter Rothstein, with music by Robert Elhai, and book and lyrics by Bradley Greenwald, who also starred in the musical as Cyrano.^[19]
• 2018 The Gloucester Stage Company premiered an adaptation for five actors by Jason O'Connell and Brenda Withers.^[20]

The history of the play is explored in Theresa Rebeck's 2018 Broadway play Bernhardt/Hamlet.

Films

See Cyrano de Bergerac (film)

• 1925 A silent, hand-tinted French-Italian film version of the play, starring Pierre Magnier
• 1945 Love Letters is a screen adaptation by novelist Ayn Rand of the book Pity My Simplicity by Christopher Massie which converted his story into an adaptation of Rostand's play. The heroine, Singleton (played by Jennifer Jones), falls in love with a soldier during World War II, believing him to be the author of certain love letters that had been written for him by another soldier at the front. In this version, the heroine discovers the identity of the true author (played by Joseph Cotten) in time for the protagonists to experience a "happy ending." The film, produced by Hal Wallis, was a commercial success and earned four nominations for Academy Awards, including that of Jones for "Best Actress of 1945," and was one of the four films which paired Jones and Cotton as romanic leads. (The others were Since You Went Away, 1944, Duel in the Sun, 1946, and Portrait of Jennie, 1948.) The musical score by Victor Young was also nominated for an Oscar, and featured the melody of the hit song "Love Letters", which has been recorded by numerous artists since 1945, including Rosemary Clooney, Dick Haymes, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, Jack Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Shelley Fabares, Elton John and Sinéad O'Connor. The melody or song has been reused in other films, including the Blue Velvet (1986), directed by David Lynch.^[21][22][23]
• 1945 There is also a relatively unknown French-language black-and-white film version made in 1945, starring Claude Dauphin. Posters and film stills give the impression that the set designs and costumes of the 1950 José Ferrer film may have been modeled on those in the 1945 movie.^[24]
• 1950 José Ferrer played the role in the 1950 film, the first film version of the play made in English. The film was made on a low budget, and although it was highly acclaimed, it was a box office disappointment and was nominated for only one Oscar – Best Actor – which was won by Ferrer. Nevertheless, it has become a film classic. Mala Powers co-starred as Roxane and William Prince played Christian. This is perhaps the most famous film version of the play. Ferrer reprised the role in Cyrano and d'Artagnan, a 1964 film directed by Abel Gance.
• 1959 Aru kengo no shogai (Life of an Expert Swordsman) is a samurai film by Hiroshi Inagaki, adapted from Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, and starring Toshiro Mifune in the Cyrano role. It was released in the English-language market with the title Samurai Saga.
• 1984 Electric Dreams is the story of a personal computer that becomes self-aware, falls in love with a musician, and then wins her for his socially awkward owner.
• 1987 film Roxanne, a contemporary comedy version with a happy ending added, starred Steve Martin as C.D. Bales, Daryl Hannah as Roxanne, and Rick Rossovich as Chris.
• 1990 French movie adaptation with Gérard Depardieu in the title role won several awards including an Oscar.
• 2009 The Ugly Truth is a 2009 American romantic comedy film starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, featuring a scene at a baseball game where Mike (Gerard Butler) remotely via radio to Abby (Katherine Heigl) in an earpiece telling her what to say to her date to win him.
• 2012 Let It Shine is a Disney Channel Original Movie loosely based on this story. It stars an aspiring teenage musician named Cyrus DeBarge who allows his friend, Kris, to use his music to win over their childhood friend, Roxie, who is a professional singer.
• 2014 A Telugu romantic comedy movie, Oohalu Gusagusalade, is an adaptation of the play^[25]
• 2018 Sierra Burgess is a Loser is a Netflix original movie, retelling this story through catfishing, texting, and high school social hierarchy.

Animations

• 1985–1987 Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea is a French animated series created by Nina Wolmark. Episode 3, Season 2, aired on October 15, 1986, entitled briefly "Cyrano", presents another failed attempt of our protagonists (Arkana, Spartakus, Matt and Rebecca) to restore the lost city of Arkadia, when the power of its sun, Tehra, began to fail. Their giant ship Tehrig lands this time on the planet of Borbotrek, ruled by Lord Cyrano, a great scientist, that is thought to know the secret of Arkadia. He proves to be the sole creator of Borbotrek and its citizens (who only speak in rhyme), through the power of imagination and pushed by the impetus of an idealized love for a mysterious Lady Roxanne. Cyrano would only allow women in his palace, hoping that one of them might be Roxanne, that's why he lets Arkana in, thinking her to be the one, and willing to tell her the "secret". There is a misunderstanding between the two on that matter, leaving Arkana without the solution to save her city, and Cyrano having to face unrequited love. This causes the cities and the people of his planet to vanish, because of his broken heart. The end of the episode is optimistic though, bringing Cyrano to the realization that he doesn't need to fulfill his love on a material level in order to create life out of imagination, that his inner world and ideals are enough of a motivation in order to see what is "real" for him. This represents the key to his eternal problem, since the episode ends with the image of Roxanne asking to see Cyrano by the gates of his palace.

• 2018 Bob's Burgers is an animated series created by Loren Bouchard. Episode 11, Season 8, aired on March 25, 2018, titled "Sleeping with the Frenemy", tells the story of Tina a protagonist allowing Tammy, her rival, to stay with the Belchers during Spring Break and fixes her up with a boy from out of town, Brett. Tina talks to Brett through Tammy in order to help her win a date. Tina ends up falling for Brett and the truth eventually comes out. Tammy convinces Brett to go on a walk with Tina on the beach. The episode closes with Tina and Brett sharing a kiss on the Warf.

Radio

Kenneth Branagh starred as Cyrano, Jodhi May as Roxanne, and Tom Hiddleston as Christian, in a 2008 BBC Radio 3 production using the Anthony Burgess translation and directed by David Timson. This production first aired on BBC Radio 3 on 23 March 2008 and was re-broadcast on 4 April 2010.^[26]

Len Cariou and Roberta Maxwell starred in a 1980 CBC Television version directed by Peabody-winner Yuri Rasovsky.

Tom Burke and Emily Pithon starred in a 2015 BBC Radio 4 version for 15 Minute Drama, spanning five 15 minute episodes. It was adapted by Glyn Maxwell, and directed by Susan Roberts.^[27]

Opera

An opera in French, Cyrano de Bergerac, whose libretto by Henri Cain is based on Rostand's words, was composed by the Italian Franco Alfano and was first presented in an Italian translation in 1936. In recent years, the original French version has been revived in productions including the Opéra national de Montpellier with Roberto Alagna in 2003, and a 2005 Metropolitan Opera production with Plácido Domingo in the title role; both are available in DVD recordings.

Victor Herbert's unsuccessful 1899 operetta Cyrano de Bergerac, with a libretto by Harry B. Smith based on the play, was one of Herbert's few failures.

Walter Damrosch's Cyrano, another operatic adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, premiered in 1913 at the Metropolitan Opera. Eino Tamberg composed another opera titled Cyrano de Bergerac in 1974, to a libretto in Estonian by Jaan Kross, based on Rostand's play.^[28] The opera Cyrano by David DiChiera to a libretto by Bernard Uzan premiered at the Michigan Opera Theatre on 13 October 2007.^[29]

Scientific studies: "Cyranoids"

Inspired by the balcony scene in which Cyrano provides Christian with words to speak to Roxane, Stanley Milgram developed an experimental technique that used covert speech shadowing to construct hybrid personae in social psychological experiments, wherein subjects would interact with a "Cyranoid" whose words emanated from a remote, unseen "source".^[30][31]