It has always seemed to me that the ultimate goal of a great choreographer is to touch the imagination of his audience with a sense of beauty.
In this beautifully-staged piece, David Bintley achieves a spontaneous reaction by setting his opening scene in the Paris of the 1640s, thus achieving a remarkable feat of theatrical brilliance.
This is the world of Moliere, Racine and the French travelling theatre. It was a world Edmond Rostand created when he wrote Cyrano de Bergerac initially.
As the three raps on the stage announce the beginning of the play within the play - in the prettiest fit-up theatre imaginable - the crowd turns its gossipy attention to the actors and Robert Parker as Cyrano (prosthetic proboscis firmly in place) takes umbrage immediately, engages in a duel, wipes the stage of actors with his rapier, flirts and fences simultaneously and melts at the sight of Roxane (Elisha Willis in her finest hour with a role tailored for her).
A ballet as finely-crafted as this, demands total commitment from those who dance it. But Bintley is generous to his company and he provides lovely little cameos throughout the evening for a bright, well-dressed company which has never looked or danced better.
As his adventures progress, Cyrano finds himself in a French bakery where the young men whip up a storm of high-spirited, high-kicking excitement in wild burst of testosterone-fuelled celebratory madness.
Parker joins them and then, in a finely-judged arc of diminished joy, finds Roxane loves the illiterate, doomed Christian (the much-missed Iain Mackay back in great form).
Cyrano’s famous love letters to Roxane begin (for the amorous, but uneducated Christian) and Parker shows the qualities of dance strength, comic irony and emotional tenderness which have always been his gift and with which he shapes an unforgettable Cyrano. Add to this Marion Tait’s work in various roles, glorious costumes and Carl Davis’ romantic score and you have something theatrically remarkable.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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