Australian actor, writer and director, Virginia Gay, is bringing a gender-flipped retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. Cyrano was created by Gay as a result of the imposed isolation of the very recent pandemic and her yearning for human connection.
A big-hearted, irreverent rom-com for our times
Gay commented “Cyrano is someone who's decided they’re unworthy of love, believes in the transformative nature of art and poetry, and is a hopeless romantic. You know, it’s all of us in our 20s. But so few people remember the original is a tragedy. So, if you’ve got a queer woman playing and reimagining Cyrano… well, I don’t ever want to be part of something that says queer love is impossible.”
Described as a big-hearted, irreverent rom-com for our times, Cyrano is the most interesting person in any room – a wordsmith, a charmer. She works twice as hard and runs twice as fast as the pretty boys, because she’s deeply ashamed of something about herself. Enter Roxanne: brilliant and beautiful, with a penchant for poetry and a way with words, just like Cyrano. But Roxanne only has eyes for Yan: hot, manly Yan; who is dumbstruck around Roxanne. Probably shy, right? Until suddenly he starts saying the most amazing things. But it’s not Yan writing these perfect love scenes, it’s Cyrano...
Directed by Clare Watson, Cyrano was originally staged at Melbourne Theatre Company in 2022; this brand-new production will make its European premiere at the Traverse theatre this August. Virginia Gay was last at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show Dirty Pretty Songs in 2012.
