The week in theatre Cyrano de Bergerac; The Duchess of Malfi; Three Sisters – review
over 5 years in The guardian
Playhouse; Almeida; Lyttelton, LondonGone is the big nose, while the fighting’s a poetry slam in Martin Crimp’s ingenious new rapping Cyrano. Plus, The Duchess of Malfi reimagined, and Three Sisters who dream of Lagos…
What a radiant week for fresh twists on familiar plays. The show-off dangers of radical adaptations are obvious, but a seizing-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck version can take you deep into the heart of the original.
Cyrano de Bergerac is newly ventriloquised in Martin Crimp’s capering couplets, dazzlingly staged by Jamie Lloyd. Edmond Rostand’s play, written in 1897 but set in 1640, is rapped into the 21st century. Yet every fibre vibrates to Edmond Rostand’s ideas about outward illusion, inner voices – and the spellbinding power of speech. It has a star at its centre – James McAvoy firecrackers across the stage – but its plea is for the importance not of celebrity but of art. You don’t hear that very often these days. Continue reading...
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