When the cast list for the fall play was released, I opened the email with bated breath and was very bemused. I was playing Roxane, but so were four other students. The other two main roles, Cyrano and Christian, were similarly divided by act. Alban Dennis, Upper School drama teacher and the play’s director, stated that the decision to cast multiple actors in the principal roles was threefold: more actors could participate in the production; nobody would bear the hefty line load of these main roles; and, most importantly, the variation would show that the complex traits of the characters are universal.
By removing the physical nose, we avoid making Cyrano into a laughing stock; the play is comedic for more than a prosthetic.
“Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand is a poetic, tragic, and comical tale of how perceived insufficiency undermines genuine emotion. Cyrano is in love with his childhood best friend Roxane, but he believes that she will never love him in return because of a singular unattractive flaw: his big nose. Christian, on the other hand, is a dashing young soldier enamored by the beautiful Roxane. Christian has the looks, but Cyrano has the brains, so the two men contrive a plan to woo Roxane: Cyrano will dictate to Christian what he must say to get the girl. In the end, the plan backfires because Roxane falls in love with the “soul” of Christian, which is, in fact, Cyrano himself.
In Lakeside’s production, the most prominent deviation from the original script is the omission of Cyrano’s gargantuan nose. Although there is nothing to show that Rostand wrote Cyrano to be an anti-Semitic caricature, portrayals of those with larger noses have historically been weaponized against the Jewish community, as well as other minority groups. The primary reason for the nose’s removal is that the cast wants to avoid alienating or harming those in the community who have been oppressed and stereotyped due to harmful assumptions.
In Lakeside’s production, the most prominent deviation from the original script is the omission of Cyrano’s gargantuan nose.
We all have a “nose”: an element of ourselves that sometimes makes us feel insecure or unworthy of love. It’s the behavior of the outside world — and in this case, the other characters — that make us feel the sadness, fear, and self-loathing that is crucial to the story. The other main characters are also representative of universal traits. Roxane symbolizes the judgment that we’re all afraid to encounter. Though not intentionally unkind, her naïveté prevents her from recognizing that there are infinite versions and visions of beauty. And for all of Christian’s confident swagger, he accepts Cyrano’s help because he doesn’t believe he is intelligent enough to impress his love. We share in his sentiment when we subvert ourselves in hopes of being better liked.
By removing the physical nose, we avoid making Cyrano into a laughing stock; the play is comedic for more than a prosthetic. We hope the audience will feel empathy for Cyrano because his plight is relatable: he can’t love himself until he feels loved for who he is.
