Adrian Lester’s black belt in Taekwondo comes in handy in this gorgeously designed and captivating production of Cyrano De Bergerac.
Lester stars as the swashbuckling wordsmith Cyrano, famed for his enormous showmanship, elocution and nose, reviving the role he played to acclaim at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Company in 2025.
Adapted from Edmond Rostand’s 19th-century play by Debris Stevenson and Simon Evans (Evans also directs), Cyrano De Bergerac maintains the protagonist’s lyrical wit while injecting even more heart into the man whose unrequited love for Roxane (Susannah) both motivates and haunts him.
As Cyrano, Lester thrives in evoking the bravado of a man whose wordplay and charisma carry him through even the trickest of situations. Lester struts and glides across the stage for much of the play, with Cyrano’s arrogance engrossing rather than infuriating, yet this is combined with a vulnerability which stems from Cyrano’s own anxieties, creating a well-rounded lead. Cyrano’s language elevates him, with Stevenson and Evans’ script working hard to maintain the original’s verse-qualities, with Lester’s delivery achieving a cadence that makes the piece so easy to engage with.
Moreover, Cyrano’s tongue often leads him into increasingly more dangerous sword-wielding moments, with one scene in particular, Cyrano’s introduction, a terrific display not just of his linguistic talent but also of Lester’s exceptional martial art abilities, flinging and flying across the stage with mesmerising ease.
As Roxane, Fielding spends much of the piece pining after a dashing young soldier, Christian (Levi Brown). Roxane is a flighty, flirtatious individual whose passion for beautiful words, rather than physicality, means that dim-witted Christian needs Cyrano’s penmanship to charm, which the latter does with great nobility. There is a deft yet understated sense of chaos within Roxane, which Fielding leans into. The humour which she, and the rest of the tremendous cast, bring carries the long production along, yet it is with a care and grace that prevents the poignant ending from missing the mark.
Indeed, it is the good nature of the production despite Cyrano’s lovestruck pain, and the play’s ending, that makes this piece so powerful. Evans’s direction emphasises the chaos and theatricality of Cyrano, who, with a quick whistle, can summon a band he won in a bet, or whose witty one-liners are matched by Lester’s tremendous physical comedy. It is a play that reaches the extremities of emotions for the audience, exquisitely portrayed by this superb cast and creative team. While Scott Handy’s Comte de Guiche serves as the play’s closest thing to a villain, there is a sense of camaraderie among all the characters, which means it never gets bogged down by its political backdrop.
It is not just in the script where the beauty of Cyrano’s words and emotions come to the fore. Grace Smart’s set and costume design luxuriates in the 17th-century period, culminating in a stunningly simple yet effective leaf-shredding tree placed centrestage during the production’s final moments, enhancing the play’s climax.
Much like how Cyrano struts, this production of Cyrano De Bergerac feels like a well-earned victory lap for this team after its 2025 critically acclaimed run. Ferociously funny, the production is full of heart and sentiment, which, like Cyrano himself, earns its plaudits.
