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Cyrano de Bergerac
Cover of a 1990 French-language edition of Cyrano de Bergerac
Written by	Edmond Rostand
Characters	Cyrano de Bergerac Roxane Christian
Date of premiere	1897
Country of origin	France
Original language	French
Genre	Romance
Setting	France, 1640

Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand based on the life of the real Cyrano de Bergerac. The first four acts are set in 1640, while the fifth is set in 1655. An immediate triumph upon its release, the play is one of the most popular in the French language and has been filmed several times and even made into an opera and a ballet.

The entire play is written in verse, in rhyming couplets of 12 syllables per line. (It is very close to the Alexandrine format, but the verses sometimes lack a caesura.) It is also meticulously researched, down to the names of the members of the Académie Française and the dames précieuses glimpsed before the performance in the first scene.

The original Cyrano was Constant Coquelin, who played it over 400 times at Porte-Saint-Martin^[1] and later toured North America in the role. Richard Mansfield was the first actor to play Cyrano in the United States in an English translation. The longest-running Broadway production ran 232 performances in 1923 and starred Walter Hampden, who returned to the role on the Great White Way in 1926, 1928, 1932, and 1936^[2]. He passed the torch to José Ferrer, who won a Tony Award for playing Cyrano in a 1946 Broadway staging, the highlight of which was a special performance in which Ferrer played the title role for the first four acts and Hampden assumed it for the fifth. Other notable English-speaking Cyranos were Ralph Richardson, DeVeren Bookwalter, Derek Jacobi, Richard Chamberlain, and Christopher Plummer, who played the part in Rostand's original play and won a Tony Award for the 1973 musical adaptation. Kevin Kline plays the role in a Broadway production that opened October 12th, 2007, with Jennifer Garner playing Roxane and Daniel Sunjata as Christian.

The play has been translated and performed many times, and is responsible for introducing the word "panache" into the English language.

Hercules Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a Cadet (nobleman serving as a soldier) in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being an incredible duelist, he is a remarkable poet and is also shown to be a musician. However, he has an extremely large nose, which is a target for his own self-doubt. This doubt prevents him from expressing his love for his cousin, the beautiful Roxane, as he believes that his ugliness forbids him to "dream of being loved by even an ugly woman."

At the same time as he is debating whether or not he should propose his love to her, she comes to see him. In a moment of great dramatic irony, she tells him that she believes she loves Christian de Neuvillette, a young cadet in the same regiment as Cyrano. Although disheartened by this chain of events, Cyrano agrees to protect Christian at Roxane's request.

When Cyrano confronts Christian, he sees that Christian too loves Roxane, but is intimidated by Roxane's intelligence and has no wit or intelligence of his own, even though he's a "handsome devil". Desperate to express his love for Roxane, even if it is unrequited, Cyrano offers to provide Christian with the type of dashing verse that he is associated with. In Act II, Scene ii of the 2003 Signet Classic edition, Christian exclaims that "I need eloquence, and I have none!" to which Cyrano replies "I'll lend you mine! Lend me your conquering physical charm, and together we'll form a romantic hero!"

The two arrange love letters and memorize speeches to woo Roxane. Christian decides that he does not need Cyrano's help anymore, but embarrasses himself in front of Roxane, and begs Cyrano to assist him again. This culminates in a famous scene in which Roxane, standing on a balcony, believes herself to be speaking with Christian, below on the ground, but is actually speaking to Cyrano pretending to be Christian. After winning back Roxane's love through Cyrano's poetry, Christian is married to Roxane.

The fulfillment of their ingenious plan, however, is thwarted by Antoine de Guiche, the officer in command of Cyrano's and Christian's regiment. De Guiche dislikes Cyrano and delights in ordering the cadets to the siege of Arras, a battle then underway with Spanish forces in Flanders. Roxane employs subterfuge to try to keep de Guiche from sending the army away, but fails (although she uses de Guiche's order to secure her secret marriage to Christian).

In a military encampment beset with near-famine conditions, Cyrano obsessively writes love letters to Roxane, which he signs as Christian's. De Guiche, who is shown to be an object of ridicule to the soldiers under his command, orders the regiment on a suicide mission. Just then Roxane, taken by the love letters, arrives with provisions. Roxane tells Christian that she loves him just for his soul, and would love him no matter what he looks like. Hearing this, Christian tries to persuade the reluctant Cyrano to disclose the entire scheme to Roxane. However the battle starts and Christian dies before Cyrano can properly inform her. Cyrano's pride and sense of honor prevent him from revealing to Roxane the secret of the man who just died. The cadets charge in a mostly fruitless attack, bringing Act IV and the action set in 1640 to a close.

The play resumes in 1655 in Paris. Cyrano is in straitened circumstances. His brash manner has continued to earn him enemies, and his pride prevents him from accepting aid. He visits Roxane, who still mourns for Christian, every Saturday at the cloister where she now lives. Cyrano has been struck on the head by firewood thrown from an open window while walking down the street. It is suspected that the incident was set up by someone whom Cyrano had insulted in the past. After being treated by a doctor "acting out of charity", Cyrano rises from his bed and leaves to keep his weekly appointment with Roxane. He asks to read Christian's last letter (which Cyrano, of course, actually wrote), and Roxane gives it to him. It is a moving farewell that Christian supposedly wrote in case of his death in battle. As Cyrano reads it aloud, Roxane remembers hearing the same voice speaking words of love to her long ago. She turns and sees that Cyrano is now standing in the dark, evidently recalling the letter from his memory. She realizes that not only did he write all of Christian's letters, but that she has always loved Cyrano, and he her. Two of Cyrano's best friends, Le Bret and Ragueneau, enter, concerned for Cyrano's health, and tell Roxane that Cyrano has "killed himself" by going to visit her. Cyrano is forced to acknowledge that he is dying from his wound. Roxane declares that she loves him and begs him not to die. But Cyrano grows delirious, stands up, and imagines that he is fighting a duel with Death himself, saying that it is better to fight in vain. Declaring that his "panache" (dash, swagger, irrepressible spirit) cannot be taken away from him, he dies in Roxane's arms.

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Rostand's play has been the subject of several films, including a 1900 silent movie starring Constant Coquelin, who originally created the role, which was accompanied by a sound-on-cylinder recording of Coquelin's voice reciting one of Cyrano's speeches^[3]. A 1925 film version starring Pierre Magnier was notable for its laborious hand coloring using the Pathécolor stencil process, in which groundstone glass is cut with a pantograph in the shape of an object to conform with what is on the 35mm print.

The first English-language adaptation to be televised was made in 1938 by the BBC and starred Leslie Banks in one of the earliest live television broadcasts.

The most famous film versions may be the 1950 film starring José Ferrer (for which he won an Academy Award), and the 1990 French-language version, made in color, and starring Gérard Depardieu (who was nominated for the same award). Ferrer also played the part in Abel Gance's Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1964) and a cartoon version of the play for an ABC Afterschool Special in 1974.

There is also a relatively unknown French-language black-and-white film version made in 1945, starring Claude Dauphin. Posters and film stills give the impression that the set designs and costumes of the 1950 José Ferrer film may have been modeled on those in the 1945 movie. [1]

A comedic Hollywood reinterpretation, Roxanne, starring Steve Martin as a Cyrano-esque fire captain in a modern small town, and Daryl Hannah as Roxane, was released in 1987.

Aru kengo no shogai (literally, "Life of an Expert Swordsman"), is an 1959 samurai film by Hideyo Amamoto based on Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac. The movie airs on American TV stations as "Samurai Saga".

An opera in French, Cyrano de Bergerac, whose libretto by Henri Cain is based on Rostand's words, was composed by the Italian Franco Alfano and was revived by the Metropolitan Opera with Plácido Domingo in the title role.

Victor Herbert wrote an unsuccessful operetta adaptation of the play in 1899. It was one of Herbert's few failures.

Walter Damrosch wrote another operatic adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, which premiered in 1913 at the Metropolitan Opera.

In 1964, The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo presented a cartoon adaptation of Cyrano.

In 1973, a musical adaptation by Anthony Burgess, called Cyrano and starring Christopher Plummer, appeared in Boston and then on Broadway. Twenty years later, a Dutch musical stage adaptation was translated into English and produced on Broadway as Cyrano: The Musical. Both the 1973 and 1993 versions were critical and commercial failures.

Burgess wrote a new translation and adaptation of Cyrano in 1970, which had its world premiere at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Paul Hecht was Cyrano. Also in the cast were Len Cariou as Christian, and Roberta Maxwell as Roxanna. A later production was the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed 1983 stage production.

On the PBS show Wishbone, it was the story featured in the episode "Cyranose".

The teen movie Whatever It Takes, was loosely based on it.

An episode of the BBC series Blackadder the Third parodies the balcony scene of Cyrano, although the actual episode has nothing to do with the play plotwise.

A pornographic adaptation titled Cyrano, directed by Paul Norman, was released in 1991.

Frank Langella created a chamber piece simply titled Cyrano.

The 1996 film The Truth About Cats & Dogs has a plot reminiscent of this play.

In the French anime show Code Lyoko the Lyoko gang acts out part of this play at the beginning and end of the episode, Temporary Insanity.

The Brazilian book "A Marca de Uma Lagrima" tells the story of a girl, Isabel, who writes love letters to her cousin, Cristiano, in the name of her best friend Rosana.

The Indian movie "Sapnay" or "Minsaara Kanavu" (1997) is loosely based on this play.

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Nth Degree, Dr. Crusher directs a version of this play with Lt. Barclay performing the lead role.

The Blues Traveler song "Sweet Pain" is about this play.

In an installment of "Monsterpiece Theater" on the children's show Sesame Street, there is a character named "Cyranose", who substitutes a sword with, appropriately, his exaggeratedly long nose. He has a very hot temper and goes ballistic, swinging his nose in blind rage, everytime someone says the word "nose", as he automatically believes they are ridiculing him.

The January 1995 episode of "Boy Meets World" entitled "Cyrano" takes the play as its plot and involves two characters winning a girl secretly for another boy.

The song "Sloppy Love Jingle Pt. 1" by the band Gym Class Heroes references Cyrano.

David Bintley created a ballet Cyrano for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The world premiere was February 7, 2007.

There is also a filmed ballet version (in color) from the 1950s.

A new translation of the play by Ranjit Bolt opens at Bristol Old Vic in May 2007

In the Roseanne episode titled "Communicable Theater" Jackie plays Roxanne when going through a phase of appreciation to fine arts.

The song "Cyrano de Berger's Back" by X is based on the play.

Michigan Opera Theatre will present Cyrano, a world premiere opera by composer David DiChiera, and director/librettist Bernard Uzan, Oct. 13 - 28, 2007 at the Detroit Opera House. Cyrano is a coproduction with the Philadelphia Opera and Florida Grand Opera.A live broadcast on the 28th from radio station WRCJ-FM will present the world premiere.

Sound & Fury, a Los Angeles-based comedy trio, presented their parody of the play, called "Cyranose!" in L.A. at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in September 2007. It was also filmed and released on DVD.

The movie Bigger than the Sky is set around the actors performing a rendition of the play.

• Cyrano de Bergerac, available at Project Gutenberg.