Cyrano @ Traverse Theatre

Inventive and delightfully queer, Virginia Gay's adaptation of Cyrano is as much a piece about making theatre as it is a reimagining of Edmond Rostand's classic play

Review by Rho Chung | 07 Aug 2024
  • Cyrano

Written and fronted by Virginia Gay, Cyrano is a delightfully queer reimagining of Edmond Rostand's classic 19th century play. The original play ends in tragedy, but the players are in disagreement as to whether this one should. The basic skeleton of Rostand's plot goes like this: Cyrano (big nose, smart brain) and Christian (nice body, dumb brain) are both in love with Roxanne, who loves both poetry and beauty. Cyrano can do poetry; Christian, beauty. So the two team up to write her letters as Christian, until Christian dies in war, Cyrano dies from being an asshole, and Roxanne lives out the rest of her life in a convent – as one does. 

For Cyrano fans, this adaptation is delicious. It raises up the most salient and delightful parts of the text without forgetting for a second who this play was originally for and what it was originally about. As Roxanne, Jessica Whitehurst twists the adoration usually showered on the character. It's not that she's all girl-boss-slay-queen-brat-summer now; she is no more or less real than Gay's Cyrano. Her performance is intoxicating; Whitehurst's Roxanne is messy, horny, furious and dazzling.

The notion that The Nose is Gender may not be the most original approach, but Gay's Cyrano steers fully into the character's self-absorbed consciousness of physical difference. This is played out beautifully between Gay and Whitehurst. There have been other adaptations of Cyrano that racialise Roxanne, but this one directly faces the dynamic between a white Cyrano and a Black Roxanne.  

Even if you've never heard of Cyrano de Bergerac, this play has something to say to you. It's as much about making theatre as it is itself an act of theatre. There's a palpable bond amongst the cast, who flit in and out of the 'story' and the meta-play so seamlessly that there is really no divide between Cyrano (in Cyrano), Cyrano (outside of Cyrano, looking in) and the audience. The dramaturgy and direction (by Clare Watson) are spectacular. Every choice speaks to a deep understanding of the text, characters and subject matter.  

Cyrano is injected with the rebellious joy of watching an old favourite without knowing how it will end. The feeling that has stayed with me is warmth – toward marginalised bodies, toward my own body, toward friendship – driven by love for oneself and one's community.


Cyrano, Traverse Theatre (Traverse 1), until 25 Aug, various times, £16-23