Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand (Derek Jacobi 1985 TV) 3/17

Derek Jacobi... Cyrano de Bergerac
John Bowe... Le Bret
Jimmy Gardner... Doorkeek
Philip Dennis... Flunkey
John Tramper... Flunkey
Geoffrey Freshwater... Musketeer
Alexandra Brook... Flowergirl
Niall Padden... Eater
Phillip Walsh... Drinker
Simon Clark... Citizen
Jayne Tottman... Citizen's Son
Paul Basson... Page
Stephen Kennedy... Page
Raymond Llewellyn... Pickpocket
Jeffery Dench... Marquis 1
David Glover... Marquis 2
Dennis Clinton... Cuigy
Edward Jewesbury... Brisaille
George R. Parsons... Lignière the Poet (as George Parsons)
Tom Mannion... Christian de Neuvillette
Penelope Beaumont... Precieuse
Clare Byam-Shaw... Precieuse
Cathy Finlay... Food Seller
Pete Postlethwaite... Ragueneau
Sinéad Cusack... Roxane
Jennie Goossens... Roxane's Duenna
John Carlisle... Le Comte de Guiche
Christopher Bowen... Le Vicomte de Valvert
David Shaw Parker... Bellerose
Raymond Bowers... Jodelet

Writers:
Edmond Rostand (play)
Anthony Burgess (translation)

Directed by Terry Hands
Original Music by Nigel Hess
Film Editing by David Martin
Production Design by Ralph Koltai
Costume Design by Alexander Reid

By Louise Sweeney (Christian Science Monitor, March 1985):

When they pass out the Tony Awards this year, Derek Jacobi may win by a nose. An enormous nose. It is the nose of Cyrano de Bergerac, the swashbuckling romantic role Mr. Jacobi plays in the Royal Shakespeare Company production that took the United States by storm this season.

Jacobi has doubly dazzled audiences by playing Cyrano back to back with the role of Benedick in Shakespeares "Much Ado About Nothing." But it is the nose that could bring him the coveted Tony for best actor, the grandiloquent nose that playwright Edmond Rostand had Cyrano compare to a public monument, a big cucumber or a little watermelon, a rock, a peak, a cape . . ."no, not a cape, a peninsula!" And, of course, the nose as the facial flaw that kept him from ever declaring himself to his beloved Roxanne. Before donning his nose one night during the recent double run at Kennedy Center, Jacobi sat for an interview on Cyrano, Benedick, the Tonys, and the craft of acting.

"Theres some of Cyrano in all of us, really", Jacobi says. "That wonderful struggle to survive in the face of defeat, in his head. He goes on, hes an extraordinary chap, you know. I think people identify with him. I mean, the nose is an outward manifestation of it . . . Its not only on his face, but that blemish is in his /head/ too. "

"We all have things about us that to us are awful. But to other people, they dont even notice them. And I do think the nose should be big, but if a nose is too kind of helter-skelter, too grotesque, then it becomes merely a play about a nose. " Pause. "And its more than that.."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Rostand
• Cyrano-de-Bergerac
• Derek-Jacobi
• Tom-Mannion
• Sinéad-Cusack
• Pete-Postlethwaite
• play
• theatre
• theater

[rojblake82]

I am fairly certain Jayne Tottman no longer acts, and like many other child actors male and female they leave the profession and get ordinary proper jobs out of the public eye.

[eric30du56]

If someone could send me a PM with a copy (text, pdf) of Burgess' translation, it would be greatly appreciated, I can't find a one for free, thanks

[tuxguys]

Thoughts:

1.) Although he stands on the shoulders of giants, and he knows it, SDJ is the greatest actor of the 20th c.;

2.) Cyrano is, as his own worst enemy, the most tragic hero in drama/literature... how can somebody be so confident, so cool, so charming, so envied and desired by all around him, and think, because of his proboscis, that he's unattractive?

3.) Burgess' translation of this classic is the closest thing to Shakespeare that I have ever heard.

[orlandobabe]

This is my first favorite scene of CDB, when Cyrano confesses his love for Roxanne, I love that. That was the moment I fell in love with Cyrano.

[ShakespeareAndMore]

It is not available on DVD. The RSC did issue it on VHS, but like much of their stuff, it has not made it to DVD. Yet. We hope.

[mmgringoire2]

You've gotten this alot but THANK YOU THANK YOU

[Greya77]

Thank you!

[grizzwoldian]

i still can't thank you enough.......

[theuglyninja]

fantastic , many thanks for this