CYRANO & BERGERAC

“The three ritual knocks and the curtain opens. As it has always been and always will be, in the stalls the best and the worst of society mix: robbers, poets, philanthropists, traitors, censors, free spirits, journalists and programmers of other theatres. The stage fills up with echoes, pages in verses, heroic deeds, love letters, and blood stains made with tomato sauce. Plot twists and sword fights. The two clowns die in ecstasy and faint in pain, trading roles and noses. Could it be that this tragicomic duo can bring to life the perfect lover, invincible and irresistible?”

Antonio Vergamini and Hugo Gargiulo

“Will they seduce the ladies in the stalls and see them faint in their arms? Do they descend between the seats to obtain the so yearned for kiss, while the ghost of Cyrano remains on the stage to observe with a pleased smile (since anyway his immaterial being would impede him from collecting the craved price)? Either way it goes, they fight to tell this story with simplicity and profound love for the theatre, grasping the chance that this exceptional work offers them to represent, between laughter and tears, the eternal tragicomedy of life.

With the simplicity and immediacy that since always distinguishes the work of the Sunil, also the romantic hero is tackled with playful and clownish complicity, but, contrary to other cases, with an acting engagement of considerable interest. The two protagonists exchange between one another all the roles in a commendable summary of the work of Rostand, without altering the comedy, action and poetry of it. Highlighted by musical pieces written by Maria Bonzanigo, the small theatre of Magadino becomes a true miniature show of fantasies that gallop and conquer to the sound of images conjured with whispered hints. The scenography turns to doll houses to recreate the settings, to sabers and tiny swords to revive the bloody duels, and to continuous and masterfully orchestrated role exchanges, all to conduct the spectator to the tragic but delicate finale. The two actors were amazing. The Uruguayan Hugo Gargiulo, with that Hispanic accent, gives involuntarily a touch of magic to the dreams of Cyrano. Antonio Vergamini, on the other hand, has that verve of irony and normality that soothes the audience from the very first lines. The two are harmonious and the pièce flows nimbly for over an hour. The direction, accompanied by the clever re-elaboration of the work that maintains whole the essence of the plot, offers the most striking episodes giving the right emphasis to the most touching parts of the poetry of the gentle and fiery Gascon.”

Press-review of Cyrano & Bergerac Dal Sunil un bel Cyrano