Richard Davies is highly entertained by a new French comedy about the playwright who first brought Cyrano de Bergerac – the real-life seventeenth-century poet and swordsman with the famously large conk - to the stage...
OUR VERDICT
Edmond de Bergerac, by French playwright Alexis Michalik, is a recent hit comedy that has now been expertly translated for the British stage by Jeremy Sams. It tells the story of Edmond Rostand, a struggling dramatist in fin de siècle Paris, whose last play was a total flop and who now, with a wife and two kids to support, desperately needs a hit. Salvation arrives in the form of a commission from the celebrated actor Constant Coquelin who demands a three-act play starring himself in the lead, his hopeless dullard of a son as the villain and the joint mistress of his two theatre financiers as the leading lady – and with a sword fight. What could possibly go wrong? In the face of impossible deadlines, Rostand improvises the plot for Cyrano de Bergerac, which has since become France’s most popular play of all time – in spite of having been written in Alexandrine couplets and a lead character with an erect phallus for a nose.
In Michalik’s version, Rostand discovers inspiration from his own life for telling Cyrano’s story. His handsome friend, Leo has fallen in love with the beautiful Jeanne, a wardrobe assistant, but lacks the verbal gifts to woo her. Rostand helps Leo, whispering romantic rhymes into his ear to create the famous balcony courtship scene. Unfortunately, Rostand then gets a bit carried away, continuing the love affair with Jeanne by letter - all the while pretending to be Leo but without his knowledge. He excuses this unfaithful behaviour because Jeanne has become his ‘muse’ and he needs her inspiration to write his play – at least that’s the story he attempts to tell his wife.
This is a very entertaining play and a first-rate production. Under Roxana Silbert’s direction, it zips along at an exhausting pace, merging French farce with Moliere era comedy and an entertaining evocation of late nineteenth century Paris, complete with can-can girls, bordellos and the birth of the Lumière brothers cinema. The highly talented Freddy Fox is wonderful as Edmond Rostand, combining Chaplin-esque facial expressions with Fawlty-esque manic energy. Henry Goodman with his Punchinello features and anarchic spirit is perfect as Coquelin. Chizzy Akudolu also impresses as Maria, the prostitute turned leading lady, while Gina Bramhill is delightful as Jeanne. There are also some excellent if somewhat over-the-top comic performances from Delroy Atkinson, Josie Lawrence, David Langham and Simon Gregor.
While I enjoyed every minute, as did the enthusiastic audience, my only criticism of Edmond de Bergerac as a comedy is that it didn’t at any point make me laugh. At times it feels like a much older play by a much older playwright. Indeed by modern standards, there are some distinctly awkward moments in a play that has the deception of women as a core theme. All the main women characters are to a greater or lesser extent deceived – Jeanne to the identity of her lover, Maria as to whether she will be the leading lady, Rostand's wife Rosamonde about the nature of her husband’s muse – and, one could add, the significance to the play (none) of any of the characters played by Josie Lawrence. But on balance, this is a slick show and definitely worth seeing, if you can still get a ticket!
Venue: Richmond Theatre
Dates: 1 May – 4 May 2019
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