Cyrano de Bergerac

On Friday night we saw Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner in "Cyrano de Bergerac." It was amazing.

Robin says:

"Kevin Kline's performance was so riveting that it became easier to admire all the performances around him; I became lost in the eloquence of the words and the conflicts within the character; I stopped intellectualizing and just felt the role; every moment was precious; to enjoy such clarity and depth of emotion on stage was irresistably exciting; thrilling. Each performance in the ensemble strengthened and built the next; working individually to create a complete character; even the seemingly smallest smart worked to create a magnificent whole."

Matt says:

"I agree."

"no, really. I liked it."

"For me, it was nice to see a somewhat understated performance in the role of Cyrano. (Robin agrees) The role of Cyrano seems perfect for chewing the scenery, but Kevin Kline eschewed that path and decided to focus on creating a superbly nuanced and layered character. And Jennifer Garner was a revelation. I hadn't seen much that she had done, so was surprised at what an assured and vivacious stage presence she had."

Robin: "It was more than stage presence, she had truth and energy and every choice was large and clear and focused with a freedom and a playfulness that was engaging and contributed to the whole production.

"sometimes with an outstanding performance, you focus more on the performance than the overall production. It goes to what I said already about Kevin Kline's performance."


Matt's description of the Set:

It was a mostly bare space no-set-change play. The proscenium was huge; they had a back brick wall with a staircase descending from left to right. Various props were brought on to represent different scenes, such as tables/chairs for a bakery, a single tree used by Cyrano to distract the Vicomte de Guiche in one scene and then tipped over on its side for the battle scene later on, and a descending balcony surrounded by billowing curtains down stage.