Cyrano de Bergerac is a brilliant poet, fearsome swordsman, and devastating wit who believes himself unlovable because of his enormous nose. When the beautiful Roxane falls for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian, Cyrano makes an extraordinary sacrifice: he will compose the words Christian speaks to win her heart, effectively giving away the very eloquence he might use to declare his own love. What unfolds is a tragicomedy of errors, where the man with the most beautiful words in France cannot use them for himself, and a woman falls in love with a voice without knowing its true owner. Rostand's 1897 masterpiece is at once a celebration of wit and courage, a piercing examination of how we judge ourselves and others, and a devastating portrait of love too noble for its own good. The play crackles with swordfights, wordplay, and poetry, yet builds toward an ending that will break you. It endures because it captures something universal: the fear that we are unworthy of what we desire, and the terrible grace of loving someone enough to want their happiness even without us.
X-Ray
