Cyrano de Bergerac (KC Rep) at Spencer Theatre (UMKC), Kansas City MO Sept 5-24, 2023

Follow your nose, it always knows…

Waitaminute, that was for a breakfast cereal, though the old adage is often true, but what if there were no “nose” …?

That, and several other updates mark the first production of KC Rep’s diamond 60^th Anniversary season, Cyrano de Bergerac. The classic love triangle is a tale of an outgoing dramatist gifted with the art of language, who secretly loves the radiant Roxane; but she in turn, instead loves the handsome-but-inarticulate Christian.

The production is noteworthy as it features the first Asian-American lead in actor James Chen (who has previous appearances in The Walking Dead, Iron Fist, and The Mandolorian among other credits), a genre-fluid culturally diverse cast, and another first of an Asian-American director in Nelson Eusebio III (also KC Rep’s Associate Artistic Director.)

This updated version has one foot in the traditional setting of 17^th Century France, and one foot in more modern times, being freely adapted from Edmond Rostand's original 1897 tale by Martin Crimp, which first saw an audience at London’s Playhouse Theatre in late 2019 (starring James McAvoy, no less).

It’s considered a “modern remix” of the classic story, running 2hr15min with an intermission, in a production recommended for ages 14 and up, due to profane language, war simulations, and brief strobe lights.

“A word of warning– the performers will be using all of the aisles…and some are armed with weapons!”, Artistic Director Stuart Carden would say in his introduction, and that word of caution would ring true as lights dimmed and the play started in a very meta style, with some actors acting as crowd members, even goading the action that was taking place on stage.

The dialogue was primarily in rhyming verse- in not quite the hip-hop cadence of “Hamilton”, but it did often manage to have some flow as characters spoke or had monologues. The key elements of the original story are intact, as Cyrano has an epic battle against one hundred men that shows off his skills as an expert duelist.

Convinced of his own ugliness, he offers to act as go-between by representing his cohort Christian as he goes about wooing Roxane, setting in motion a love triangle in which each character is torn between the lure of physical attraction, and the seductive power of words.

Most that are familiar with the tale, immediately associate the character with his trademark nose, one that (spoiler alert) is absent in this version, and is not entirely explained away, though it may only represent a metaphor for the barrier between the man and the love he’s always desired.

2021’s “Cyrano” film with Peter Dinklage also made the same decision to eschew the appendage. In spite of that, actor Chen is a relatively attractive man, which makes his verses about his unsightly physical appearance, sometimes hard to believe.

Ito Aghayere plays a confident Roxane, Christopher Rivas is the dashing (but not-so-verbose) Christian, and Khalif Gillett provides some comic relief as an exuberant Lignière, and the staging, lighting, and effects, all mostly worked. The rest of the cast is joyous and well-suited to their roles as well.

Not to further compare it to “Hamilton” but it does have some similarities in bridging the old and new, that does take some time in getting accustomed to (telling the story of the nation’s first Treasury Secretary via hip-hop rhymes probably seemed like a “big reach” when it was first pitched too). Suspending any traditional familiarity of the story and just allowing yourself to get caught up in this modern version, is the best strategy to judge this variation on its own unique merits.

Just follow your nose, and come with open eyes and an open mind, for this version of Cyrano de Bergerac, playing at the Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus, through Sept 24. The nose may be missing, but the power of words remain as heavy as ever.

Tickets / Info: Cyrano de Bergerac – KCRep

 (All images courtesy of the production and KC Rep- click on any image to enlarge and see in full)