Cyrano loves Roxane but Roxane loves Christian. Each of these characters have two defining characteristics. Cyrano’s vibrant mind confidently generates spontaneous sonnets and dramas with the ease of a troubadour. His self-image, however, is focused on his mountainous nose which he assumes to be so outrageous that no woman could ever love him. Roxane adores language and the clever turns of a phase in which Cyrano excels but her attention is drawn away from his intellect to the strikingly handsome Christian. Christian in turn worships the beautiful Roxane but fears she won’t accept him because he is incapable of forming a coherent sentence that expresses his love.
The play is both a funny romantic comedy and a heroic drama. Leaving the audience with the thought, how do we accept love from another, if we first cannot love ourselves?
Playwright Michael Hollinger is fluent in French and he decided that his version of Rostand’s famous 1897 play, Cyrano de Bergerac, would not be a word for word translation but a new adaptation for modern audiences. The heart of the story is still there and Hollinger wrote for a collaborative smaller cast of nine actors creating an ensemble of creativity. Instead of references to French culture and customs found in the original, the newer version substitutes modern expressions; “Is that all?” turns into “That’s the best you’ve got?” Hollinger takes this familiar classic and creates a fast-moving play that is a roller coaster of emotions and suspense.
Cyrano will be available to stream the weekend of July 24-25. Purchase tickets at https://tinyurl.com/mrtcjuly. You will receive a link to the streaming site via email. The price is on a sliding scale; you can pick what you pay for tickets. Suggested prices range from $10 to $20 dollars. A $2.00 processing fee will be added to all tickets purchased online. You can also purchase tickets by calling the Business Office at 541-758-7827. Closed Captioning is available.