Cyrano at the Park Theatre is an exceptionally entertaining evening out. Virginia Gay’s reworking of Edmond Rostand’s 19th century play is transformational, turning an old, ossified tragedy into an uplifting and heartfelt exploration of queerness and love.
The play follows Cyrano, who has a brilliant mind but is deeply insecure in her body. She falls for the equally intelligent Roxanne, who instead falls for the handsome yet ineloquent Yan. Unable to express her love openly, Cyrano takes to seducing Roxanne through Yan, feeding him the right words. Through this tension, Cyrano explores unrequited love, self-hatred, arrogance, and manipulation.
Virigina Gay and Jessica Whitehurst flourish as Cyrano and Roxanne respectively. Their chemistry is compelling as are the barriers to their romance. For example, despite their connection, they initially default to friendship, painfully performing what is expected of them. Against this, Joseph Evans shines as Yan in an impressive stage debut, finding all the character’s laughs, yet refusing to let him become just the butt of the joke.
These central performances are brilliantly paired with a chorus, played by Tessa Wong, David Tarkenter and Tanvi Virmani. The trio have an infectious energy, to the point that they deliver some of the show’s most touching moments as well as constant laughs. When the curmudgeonly ‘two’ admits that really he wished he’d learned to dance, the whole audience sighs with him.
These performances are enabled by Clare Watson’s simple yet powerful staging. A particularly beautiful moment comes in the play’s ‘balcony scene’, where Gay and Evans perform back-to-back. This creates a rich image, where Cyrano and Yan simultaneously struggle against, and mirror one another. From the creative team this simplicity seems to have been the watchword and to good effect. The set, lighting and sound hold the production without overstepping the mark.
This is important because the action on stage is so deliberately metatheatrical. Largely, this works well, not just because it is funny but because it furthers the play’s themes. Cyrano’s quick-wittedness and damaging self-awareness are baked into the text. At times, however, this self-awareness can become a challenge. The nods to the audience are always funny, but ultimately take away some of the impact of the show’s ending.
Yet when the bows are over, this doesn’t seem to matter all that much, and it is hard not to feel a powerful sense of warmth and joy emanating from the empty, streamer-covered stage.
Playing until 11th January 2025, https://parktheatre.co.uk/
Reviewer: Ralph Jeffreys
Reviewed: 17th December 2024
North West End UK Rating: