THE Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Cyrano de Bergerac entertains from beginning to end with moments of hilarious comedy, suspense and tragedy.
Antony Sher plays the title role of poet, swashbuckling soldier, patriot and a shy man when it comes to his love for Roxane.
From the very first scene, a theatre in Paris, the audience and actors await the arrival of the Frenchman with the big nose.
It is only a matter of time before some lace-lined lord decides to insult Cyrano about the size of his nose and it is at this point that the play storms into action.
Insults and a poem composed during an exhilarating sword-fight soon follow and Cyrano is the audience's hero.
However, the plight of Cyrano, who loves his cousin Roxane, soon becomes clear.
She loves a new member of the cadets called Christian and asks Cyrano to organise letters between the two.
Cyrano writes his letters of love to Roxane and lets Christian, a man blessed with good looks but very little poetic skill, use them as his own.
Through a quick marriage and a war with Spain in which Christian is killed, the farce continues and it is only 15 years later, on the point of his death, that Cyrano reveals all to Roxane.
Antony is the centre of attention whenever he is on stage, but his supporting cast complement him superbly.
Alexandra Gilbreath's Roxane has her moments with many witty asides and endures two heart-wrenching moments of tragedy.
Geoffrey Freshwater as Ragueneau, the pastry cook and aspiring poet, is another face always welcome on stage.
Cyrano is a superbly staged production.
With just one actor on stage the audience is treated to fantastic monologues, when there are more the choreography works superbly to provide an excellent night's entertainment.
Cyrano runs at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool, until Saturday (November 15). For ticket details call the box office on 290190.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article