Review: CYRANO at Taffety Punk

Five gifted actors in four bare walls work theatre magic to bring the epic work of Cyrano to life in Taffety Punk’s new interpretation skillfully directed and adapted by Lise Bruneau. The production is vibrant, visceral and immediate. The space is so intimate there is no way to just phone in a performance – this extraordinary cast delights us and breaks our hearts.

Taffety Punk sheds new light on the traditional play by Edmond Rostand. The production explores the timeless themes of love, sacrifice, insecurity, and the disparity between appearance and true character.

In Bruneau’s interpretation, Taffety Punk retains the beloved and age-old story: Cyrano de Bergerac, a brilliant poet and swordsman with a large nose, secretly loves cousin Roxane but believes himself too unattractive to confess this attraction. When Roxane falls for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian, a fellow soldier in the Cadets de Gascogne, Cyrano agrees to write love letters for him, pouring his own feelings into the words. The truth about Cyrano's authorship—and ardent love—is only revealed to Roxane as Cyrano is dying years later.

In the title role is award-winning Washington actor Kimberly Gilbert. While Taffety Punk has swapped gender roles in the past, this is a deliberate choice to have the central role portrayed by a strong woman as a woman, in stark contrast to social norms. The classical text remains true, but with casting Cyrano as a woman there is added depth to Cyrano’s reluctance to express her love of Roxanne. It heightens the stakes and illuminates the many barriers to their partnership.

The interaction between Gilbert as Cyrano and Tonya Beckman as Roxanne has depth and sentiment and nuance. It is an extraordinary evolution to follow the unfolding relationship between the two. We are in sure hands with these powerful and capable actors.

But that’s not all – Taffety Punk’s Cyrano highlights an assured and talented cast.

Gary DuBruil is the reticent and love-sick Christian, unable to eloquently express his attraction toward Roxanne. While deep in our hearts we root for Cyrano to prevail with Roxanne, we note Christian’s great heart.

Dan Crane is the harsh Comte de Guiche, a powerful nobleman who desires Roxane and is a formidable rival to both Cyrano and Christian. Yet Crane is also the loyal and welcoming Ragueneau, a baker and aspiring poet. Ragueneau is a friend of Cyrano's who loves literature and allows struggling poets to hang out in his shop, often accepting their verses as payment for food. The scenes in the bakery are light and happy and effervescent.

Fabiolla da Silva is Carbon de Castel-Jaloux, Cyrano's friend and the captain of the Gascon Cadets. Da Silva shows a strong-willed steadiness who promotes camaraderie, loyalty and a steeliness under siege.

Yet we also follow these gifted actors in other roles: cadets, abbesses, cooks, friars, pickpockets, townspeople, duenas and noblemen. Each character is unique; each character populates the rich story.

Director and adaptor Lise Bruneau melds an exceptional cast and a perfect adaptation. This is a strong and unique interpretation. Bruneau pulled from many translations, noting especially the 1898 translation by two women: Gladys Thomas and Mary F. Guillemard.

The production elements are spare and effective. Elizabeth Morton’s costumes are true to the period yet functional and lean. Actors must transition from one character to the next in quick order so a hat, a cape, a skirt, a shawl indicates that an actor has now evolved to a new character. Morton keeps a wise eye to functional pieces that can be layered or re-purposed quickly.

Matthew Nielson’s sound design cues our transitions from battlefield to bakery to garden. Period music, in particular, puts the audience squarely in the moment. This melds with Elijah Thomas’s lighting design that shifts from a moonlit garden to a nearby battlefield.

Lorraine Ressegger-Slone oversees both fight and intimacy choreography. In a space so close, with no audience member more than a few yards away, this is a key role. Under Ressegger-Slone’s able guidance swordsmanship and more tender moments are solid and believable.

It’s hard to believe the power and creativity of this epic story that’s packed into this trim cast and lean production elements. Taffety Punk’s Cyrano explodes with energy, originality and talent. It is a memorable production with unforgettable performances by a top-notch cast.

Runtime: 2:15 with one intermission.

CYRANO by Edmond Rostand is adapted and directed by Lise Bruneau (from the 1898 translation by Gladys Thomas and Mary F. Guillemard).  It is produced by Taffety Punk Theatre Company and performed at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Cyrano runs through October 11 with performances Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 and two 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday, Oct. 4 and 11. For tickets, special programming, attendance policies, and further information visit the company's website. [Note that there is no late seating for this production.]

Photos: Teresa Castracane

Cast: Tonya Beckman, Dan Crane, Fabiolla da Silva, Gary DuBreuil and Kimberly Gilbert.