Transcript Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac
By
Edmond Rostand
The Author…
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Edmund Rostand was born in Marseilles,
France in 1868. He was educated as a
lawyer, but fell in love with poetry and
drama.
Cyrano de Bergerac was produced in 1897
with great success.
The times…
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Theatre of the era was firmly steeped in the
new style of Realism popularized by Henrik
Ibsen (A Doll’s House). Cyrano was a great
departure from this. It was written in the
romantic style.
The Romantic style…
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This style of theatre is primarily defined by
the fact that it is written in Alexandrian
verse and contains five acts. This means
that the play was written in rhymed
couplets of twelve syllables per line.
What is this style of verse similar to?
The Play…
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Based loosely on the real
person Savinien de
Cyrano de Bergerac – a
successful writer who
composed one of the
earliest works of science
fiction – The Other World:
the Comical History of the
States and Empires of the
Moon.
The Play…
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The play begins in Paris,
1640 in a theater.
Cyrano is full of bravado, a
master duelist and poet –
the kind of guy every
woman wants and every
man wants to be.
His only flaw? His
gargantuan nose.
The Play…
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In the first act, we are introduced to our
characters.
Roxanne: The object of desire for all.
Christien: Loves Roxanne, but is a bit of a
“schmoo”.
Cyrano: Also loves Roxanne, but is afraid
of being rejected because of his nose.
Count de Guiche: Our “villain”.
Other interesting facts…
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The real Cyrano is
thought to have been
a homosexual.
The relationship with
Roxanne is completely
fictional.
Steve Martin adapted
the story in a film
called Roxanne.
Respond:
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What is honor?
What is love (baby don’t hurt me)?
When is it ok to deceive someone?
What qualities do you think are the most
important in a man?
What qualities do you think are the most
important in a woman?
Scenes…
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Minimum of 20 lines each
Costumes optional
Performed onstage
Graded on blocking, memorization,
character work, voice, and audience
behavior (50 points possible)
Scenes…
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Scene selection due: Friday, 4/16
Character analysis due: Monday, 4/19
Beats and blocking due: Tuesday, 4/20
Memorization check: Friday, 4/23
Perform: Tuesday, 4/27