Cyrano de Bergerac with Alessandro Preziosi

By Martina Baldi (University of Florence)

Cyrano de Bergerac is one of the most intriguing characters in the world of theater. Caustic, passionate, courageous, and incredibly sweet, he succeeds in touching the sensibility of every spectator, with his pain caused by his unrequited love for Roxanne.

Cyrano, protagonist of the comedy with the same name, written by Edmond Rostand in 1897, is a cadet of Gascogne and, as such, trained in the art of swordsmanship, in which he excels. The man’s most characteristic quality, however, is dialectic, the capacity to compose verses in the moment. Verses that he usually uses to attack, with malice, the people that he does not like, humiliating them with his words. In this way, Cyrano makes a new enemy every day, but this does not concern him because, as he says to his friend “I love to be hated”. The reality, however, is quite different and more subtle. Cyrano has always been in love with his cousin, Roxanne, the most beautiful and elegant woman in all of the city. He, who does not have scruples in, nor fear of, expressing his thoughts, has never declared his love, impeded by his physical appearance: he has an enormous nose, which has always created complications for him.

When Roxanne, after having assisted him in one of his combats (made up of both words and of blows of the sword), asks for a word in private, the soul of the protagonist rejoices, convinced that he will finally receive the news that will make his life complete: Roxanne’s return of his love! But this does not happen. His cousin embraces him, and confesses to being very much attached to him, making the hopes of Cyrano grow, hopes that die when, giving a description of the man that she loves, Roxanne describes him as handsome. Cyrano becomes sad. Roxanne reveals to her cousin that she is in love with Christian, who has just entered into the cadets of Gascogne, and she has come to ask Cyrano to protect him from any eventual harm and to help her conquer his love, in the name of the affection that they have had for each other since they were children.  The same request comes from Christian, he is also touched by the fascinating ways of the woman. And so, Cyrano composes marvelous verses that are full of love for Roxanne, verses that, however, are recited by Christian, while Cyrano decides to hide himself in the shadows so as not to have to face the pain of a refusal.

In this fast succession of events, two main characters are introduced, each one unhappy in his or her own way. The sadness of the two is represented particularly well by the actors who performed last week, from February 16 to 19, at Teatro Verdi in Florence. Alessandro Preziosi is Cyrano de Bergerac and gives us a magnificent interpretation. Preziosi succeeds in making the multifaceted nature of the protagonist come to life. He makes us love his haughtiness, when he chases away an incompetent actor off stage, ruining the scene for the other characters; he shows the hidden bitterness in the soul of Cyrano, when he promises to help Roxanne in her love; and he move us when we see that Cyrano remains faithful to this promise, sacrificing his feelings in order to positively help his cousin marry Christian. The stage presence of Preziosi is incredible, he succeeds in fascinating everyone, all the way back to the last rows (from where one cannot see the handsome physical appearance of the actor). When, at one point, a part of the scenery is blocked, Preziosi is not thrown off, but instead, acting as if it is a part of the scene, he goes up the stairs and frees it, returning to his place and continuing the show. He provides a great example of acting from the beginning, when Cyrano challenges one of his many enemies to a game of wits, demonstrating to him how an insult can be made in many diverse manners: delivering it while being angry, calm, offended, and indifferent. In the course of a few minutes, Preziosi jumps from one part to another, showing us now an arrogant Cyrano, now a haughty Cyrano, changing his tone of voice and gesticulating for each interpretation.

Cyrano becomes real, most of all for those people who share, in some way, the pain of loving and not being loved. When Roxanne declares her love for Christian, the scene follows the classic lines of a “comedy of misunderstanding”, so that almost all of the theater explodes with laughter. Almost all: the sadness that Preziosi emanates is tangible and, though the actors were exceptional and entertaining, there were those in the audience who may have identified themselves too much with Cyrano, to the point where they could not even laugh bitterly. The feelings of Cyrano are universal, and Preziosi succeeds in transmitting them with delicacy and passion, giving the audience chills in the final act, when Cyrano reveals his love for Roxanne before dying.

The actress when plays Roxanne, Valentina Cenni, was also applauded warmly. Hers was not an easy role, as it is usually said that Roxanne is too superficial for not understanding the feelings of her cousin. She is a character who could easily be perceived as unlikeable, taking also into account her perfection; but the actress succeeds in avoiding this eventuality, which surely would have ruined the show. Roxanne appears as a living woman, a profound dreamer. We cannot criticize her for not having understood the feelings of Cyrano, as they were hidden behind the mask of a brusque man who repels love. Roxanne is also unhappy, in love with an illusion. Hers is a sadness different from that of Cyrano. He has always been loyal and overall, generous, to the point that, before dying, he does not reject his love and, instead, he declares himself happy to have been a close friend of the woman: his feelings were true. On the other hand, Roxanne is destroyed by the sense of guilt and selfishness that characterizes her, at least a little bit. In this way, she becomes more human, descending from the pedestal on which her cousin has placed her.

Thanks, in particular, to the name of Preziosi on the sign, the theater was full. The affection of the fans was shown, just as he deserved, and those who underestimated him, believing him to only be a “good-looking man,” were made to change their mind, seeing that he brought the complexity of a character like Cyrano De Bergerac to the stage.