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From the
moment you enter the foyer of the Playhouse, you are surrounded by
seventeenth-century France.
Already in costume and very much in character, the company sell their
wares, argue loudly, drink wine from the bottle, and generally conform
to the French stereotype.
Undoubtedly
the star of the show in the title role, Gethin Anthony gives a good
account of Cyrano de Bergerac聮s descent from hero to lonely
old man with his posture and delivery alone. His sensitive portrayal
of a sensitive poet who just happens to be good with a sword is
nothing short of brilliant.
The
dark balcony scene of Act III, so readily parodied in Blackadder,
brings to light the weakest and strongest characters. George Grumbar
(Christian de Neuvillette) makes the best of a shallow character
who cannot express himself and has nothing very interesting to say.
Christian
is upstaged by the thin-voiced Compte de Guiche, played by Neil
Gatland. Gatland has the audience expecting something special every
time he swaggers onto the stage, an expectation which is always
rewarded with one of the many comic tricks up the actor's large
sleeve.
Burgess聮s
adaptation of the timeless Rostand original requires a cast of 60;
this student-run production has cut this number to 18, but with
no loss of collective stage presence. With one exception where the
action is frustratingly invisible from the stalls due to a transvestite
lady-in-waiting spreading herself across the front of the stage,
the layout of the stage is superb, and no part of it is ever empty.
Above
all, the audience understands that the cast are enjoying themselves;
we are immersed in seventeenth-century France and feel a part of
the society being depicted.
Under Helen Brown聮s direction, Cyrano de Bergerac is performed
as it should be: a fun play about a society full of personal tragedies.
*The views expressed in these comments are those
of the contributor's and not the 成人快手.
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