Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, February 14 - 24, 2013

by Michael Meigs

Measure for Measure

is one of Shakespeare's darkest plays, an intimate and claustrophobic study of misrule. There are no great battles here, no dazzling displays of fancy; this mythical Vienna has a stifling ambiance, a combination of bureaucratic neglect, fetid bordello and sterile cloister. One can seek to read it as a comedy, which to some extent director Michelle Polgar has done, but one can also see it as a meditation on zealotry.

Vincentio, Duke of Vienna, is an introspective, bookish fellow who has long neglected public affairs. In the opening of the play he abruptly announces his departure to points unknown and confides to the ascetic nobleman Angelo and to ducal counselor Escalus letters granting Angelo full power to administer the dukedom. We quickly learn that Vienna is a stew of moral corruption, thick with brothels and generally immoral behavior. Our jaunty guide to that underworld is Lucio, a "fantastic" well acquainted with it, and we make the acquaintance of the tapster-pimp Pompey and the brothel keeper Mistress Overdone.

Hannah Marie Fonder, Curtis Allmon (photo: Bret Brookshire)

Empowered by the absent duke, Angelo becomes the swift and merciless instrument of justice. He orders brothels in the city limits pulled down, despite -- in fact, because of -- their thriving business. Lighthearted Lucio is appalled to find that Claudio, a young gentleman, is under arrest and on his way to jail for having gotten Julietta his beloved with child without sanction of marriage. Angelo is unyielding: the law specifies death for the offense, regardless of any excuses or extenuating circumstances. Lucio turns to Claudio's sister Isabella, a novice in the convent, and persuades her to beg Angelo to spare Claudio's life.

No one else could be as appealing as the virginal Isabella. She does move the Duke's harsh deputy -- but to her dismay, it's not toward an act of public mercy but toward the dark side of his initially tenative but then increasingly insistent offer of a trade: her virginity, in secret, in exchange for her brother's life.

Shakespeare dwells upon human fallibility in Measure for Measure. In law, in religion, in dealings with one another in society generally, we are urged and constrained to ethical behavior even though our weaknesses are legion. Angelo the zealous executor of the laws falls immediately prey to temptation; worse still, he resorts to prevarication, making promises that he has no intention of keeping. Isabella is trapped between the corporal purity imposed by her order and the pressure to seek to spare her brother's life with the forbidden sin of yielding her body. Claudio, the acknowledged and to some degree repentant condemned sinner, is equally torn and tormented; he pleads, apparently in vain, for his sister Isabella to yield to the abuser of power.

And central to all this is Duke Vincentio himself, whose long neglect of the law and flight from responsibility have brought about these conflicts. One central question in staging Measure for Measure is how to portray Vincentio as he disguises himself as a holy friar and dabbles around the edges of this developing catastrophe. Is he the most reprehensible of them all? Or is he instead a thoughtful ruler who's engineering all of this to teach everyone a lesson about law and mercy, guilt and responsibility, temptation and absolution?

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

MEASURE FOR MEASURE by William Shakespeare, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, February 14 - 24, 2013

(St. Edward's University, 3001 South Congress Avenue)

presents

Measure For Measure

by William Shakespeare
Directed by Michelle Polgar

February 14 – 24, 2013
Thursday – Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St Edward’s University, 3001 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78704
Tickets: $20 Adults Advance ($15 Students, Seniors, St Edward's University community); $20 at the door
Available through the MMNT Box Office, 512.448.8484and available online at http://www.stedwards.edu/theatre
Box Office Hours are M-F 1-5 p.m.
STUDENT DISCOUNT NIGHT Friday, February 15: Student tickets $8 with ID.


Mary Moody Northen Theatre, the award-winning producing arm of the St. Edward’s University professional theatre training program, continues its 40^th anniversary season with Measure For Measure by William Shakespeare, directed by Michelle Polgar, running February 14 - 24, 2013.

What do you get when you combine an enigmatic absentee ruler, a zealot surrogate, lustful youth, a pious nun, a moral dilemma, a dash of hypocrisy and personal desires at odds with the law? 

Shakespeare’s last and darkest comedy tackles these questions, deftly examining who sins most in a congregation of murderers, pimps, politicians, and clergy. Add to the moral tale a complement of clowns, a touch of disguise, and some adroit plot management and the result is a marvelous, thought-provoking evening of theatre. Featuring Equity guests Jeremy Lee Cudd, Greg Holt and David Stahl.


About Mary Moody Northen Theatre Mary Moody Northen Theatre operates on a professional model and stands at the center of the St. Edward’s University Theatre Training Program. Through the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, students work alongside professional actors, directors and designers, explore all facets of theatrical production and earn points towards membership in Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. MMNT operates under an AEA U/RTA contract and is a member of Theatre Communications Group. For more information, contact the theatre program at 512-448-8487 or visit us online at www.stedwards.edu/theatre.


About St. Edward's University St. Edward’s is a private, liberal arts Catholic university in the Holy Cross Tradition with more than 5,300 students. Located in Austin, Texas, with a network of partner universities around the world, St. Edward’s is a diverse community that offers undergraduate and graduate programs designed to inspire students with a global perspective. St. Edward's University has been recognized for ten consecutive years as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report, and ranks in the top 20 of Best Regional Universities in the Western Region. St. Edward’s has also been recognized by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Mary Moody Northen Theatre Season 2012-2013, St. Edward's University

2012-2013 Theatre Season

(image: Mary Moody Northen Theatre)

Mary Moody Northen Theatre announces our 40th anniversary season!

That's right: we're celebrating 40 years of top-quality productions blending the talents of St. Edward's University theatre students with professional actors, director and designers from near and far. American realism? Got it. Shakespeare? You bet! A fabulous musical? Well of course! And more! Season tickets go on sale August 24. Come join in the fun at the theatre on the hill.

All performances are Thursday – Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Under Construction
by Charles L. Mee
September 27 — October 7, 2012
Directed by David M. Long

Mee’s postmodern comedy explores the impossibly broad, messy, changeable and non-linear nature of life in these United States. Inspired by the art of Norman Rockwell and Jason Rhoads, this theatrical collage juxtaposes 1950s Thanksgiving dinner with the contemporary blogosphere, explores feminism, dancing and the barbershop quartet, and, ultimately, shines a light on our struggle to define the American experience. Originally produced by the SITI Company at the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays, MMNT's production features the talents of guest artists Amy Downing and Greg Holt.

A magical mystery tour of American hipster culture from the 1950s to the present. – Theatre Louisville

Under Construction contains strong adult content and language.

Bus Stop
by William Inge
November 8 — 18, 2012
Directed by Christina J. Moore

In this 1955 romantic comedy, a late-season blizzard forces a highway shutdown and detains five weary travelers overnight at a small Midwestern diner. Stranded together, this motley crew - an aging professor with a predilection for younger women, a rodeo star bent on marrying a woman who doesn’t love him, a struggling young nightclub singer - explores individual hopes and dreams over coffee, donuts and country music. A big-hearted celebration of love and transformation, Inge's delightful play harkens to an earlier era. Featuring guest artists Sarah Gay, David Jones and David Stahl.

A feel good slice of 1950s Americana. – What's On Stage

Measure for Measure
by William Shakespeare
February 14 — 24, 2013
Directed by Michelle S. Polgar

What do you get when you combine an enigmatic and absentee ruler, a zealot surrogate, lustful youth, a pious nun, a dash of hypocrisy and personal desires at odds with the law? Shakespeare’s last comedy tackles these questions, deftly examining who sins most in a congregation of murderers, pimps, politicians, whores and clergy. Add to the moral tale a complement of bawds, a touch of disguise, and some adroit plot management and the result is a marvelous, thought-provoking evening of theatre.

Richly rewarding…an exuberant and memorable evening. - The Daily Mail

The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde
April 11 — 21, 2013
Directed by Richard Robichaux

Join young suitors Algernon, Jack, Cecily and Gwendolyn as they negotiate mislaid babies, mistaken identities, secret engagements, baffled suitors, one overbearing mother and some of the wittiest wordplay ever volleyed over cucumber sandwiches. Its 1895 premiere in London offered a stinging critique of love, sex, and hypocrisy. This glorious comedy of manners features the talents of guest artists Barbara Chisholm, Robert Faires and Irene White.

The Importance of Being Earnest is the rare work of art that achieves perfection on its own terms. – The New York Times

The Secret Garden
Music by Lucy Simon, Lyrics and Book by Marsha Norman
Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
June 13 — 30, 2013
Directed by Robert Westenberg

This coming of age story based on the classic children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett is filled with suspense, magic and wonder. 11-year-old Mary, orphaned by a cholera outbreak, is sent from India to Scotland to live with her reclusive widower uncle. Lost in their grief and surrounded by visions and voices from the past, Mary and the rest of the family struggle to regain their footing. The young girl’s discovery of a secret garden, coupled with her dedication to revive the magical space, leads to rebirth and renewal for all. This Tony-award winning musical will set your heartstrings aflutter.

A must-see for any of us that have retained the sense of magic and wonder from childhood. - TalkingBroadway

Tickets Season passes go on sale August 27 through the MMNT box office at (512) 448-8484 and online at www.stedwards.edu/theatre. Single tickets for each production go on sale three weeks prior to opening and may be purchased through the MMNT box office or the website. Box Office hours are 1 – 5 PM Monday – Friday when classes are in session and one hour prior to curtain. All seats are reserved.

Our 40th Anniversary Join us for special events throughout the season as we celebrate 40 years of performances at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre. Events will include special alumni and subscriber gatherings, archival exhibitions and a year-end celebration with our distinguished guest, Robert Westenberg. Mr Westenberg is a Tony-nominated actor and winner of the Drama Desk Award for his performance as Cinderella’s Prince in the Broadway production of Into The Woods. He appeared with Mandy Patinkin in the original production of The Secret Garden on Broadway. Mr. Westenberg makes his MMNT directing debut with The Secret Garden.

About Mary Moody Northen Theatre Through the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, students work alongside professional actors, directors and designers to explore all facets of theatrical production, create dynamic artistic work and earn points towards membership in Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Our program is the only undergraduate-only program in the region producing a full regular season under an Equity agreement. MMNT is a member of Theatre Communications Group. For more information, contact the theatre program at 512-448-8487 or visit us online at www.stedwards.edu/theatre.

About St. Edward's University  St. Edward’s is a private, liberal arts Catholic university in the Holy Cross Tradition with more than 5,400 students. Located in Austin, Texas, with a network of partner universities around the world, St. Edward’s is a diverse community that offers undergraduate and graduate programs designed to inspire students with a global perspective. St. Edward's University has been recognized for nine consecutive years as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report, and has also been recognized by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, February 16 - 26

by Michael Meigs

One measure of the power of Arthur Miller's drama about the Salem witch trials of 1692 is the startling transformation of familiar actors. Tiny Sophia Franzella, now a junior at St. Edward's, has charmed audiences with her wildly comic and mischievous personae in The Imaginary Invalid, Urinetown and A Year with Frog and Toad. Here, as the malicious and vindictive accuser Abigail Williams, Franzella is smooth faced duplicity, a murderous woman-child driven by spite and lust. Hers is a finely understated performance, one that makes her all the more hair-raising because of her almost silent conviction and the restraint of her lust for her former employer John Proctor.

David Stahl, an Equity regular at Austin Playhouse, has acquitted himself of a wide range of characters in Austin theatre but those which remain most vivid in memory, for better or worse, are clowns -- the unnamed all-purpose player in The 39 Steps, the hypochondriac in Laughter on the 23rd Floor, the old actor Henry in The Fantasticks, and Sagot, the prancing rouge-cheeked art dealer in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Director Michelle Polgar recruited Stahl for the role of Deputy Governor Danforth, the chief inquisitor who entirely dominates the second half of The Crucible. Stahl is nothing less than terrifying, with his baleful stare, self certainty and the immense self regard of a small man in a position that surpasses his capacities.

Arthur Miller studied the historical records of the Salem witch trials, but he wrote this 1953 piece principally as an indictment of the obsessive Communist hunting led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (a body that three years later convicted Miller of contempt of Congress for his refusal to furnish names during a hearing). The witch hunt metaphor stuck like pitch to the investigators and did a great deal to turn public sentiment against them.

Ironically, the meaning of the play's title remains obscure for many -- so much so that the student calling from the Mary Moody Theatre box office was asking whether I wanted to make an early reservation for "the curcible." A crucible is a bowl or other recipient capable of withstanding high temperatures. Miller's title is drawn from the technology of smelting -- melting and then shaping ingots from white-hot metal. It's an inexact metaphor for the content of the play, for the hysterical and then judicial processes described in the work are not transformational but, rather, purely destructive.

Eurydice by Sara Ruhl, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, February 3 - 13

In Sarah Ruhl's world, stones can talk, the dead can send letters to the living, and the devil connives to send a fragile bride to her death so he can court her in the afterlife. On the far side of the river of forgetting, memory fades and the ability to read disappears. Young Orpheus, bereft in this life, telephones a long-distance information operator in an effort to try to locate his dead wife.

Despite the striking mythic beauty of its concepts, Ruhl's Eurydice made me profoundly uneasy last year when Different Stages did it at the City Theatre. Perhaps because the shade of Eurydice's father clings to his memories and continues to dream of her, despite the emptiness and unchanging nature of life after death.

Ruhl has a frank and direct consciousness of the all too transitory nature of this existence. She wraps that message in the reworking of the Greek fable of the musician Orpheus who braved the underworld and came close -- just that close -- to bringing his bride Eurydice back.

Jamie Goodwin as the quietly grieving dead father has depth, dignity and stature, in contrast to the simplicity of Nathan Brockett and Cassidy Schiltz as the eternally naive lovers.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming; Eurydice by Sara Ruhl, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, February 3 - 13

Received directly:

The 38th anniversary season at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre

presents

Sarah Ruhl's

EURYDICE

directed by Michelle Polgar and featuring Equity guests Jamie Goodwin and David Stahl

February 3 – 13, 2011

Thursdays–Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward’s University

3001 South Congress Avenue (Campus map: http://www.stedwards.edu/map/)

Reserved Seating Tickets available through the MMNT box office at 448-8484.

Advance $15 ($12 students, seniors, St. Edward’s community), All tickets $18 at the door.

Box office is open 1-5 p.m. Monday–Friday and 1 hour prior to curtain.

SPECIAL STUDENT NIGHT: Thursday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. (all student tickets half price with ID)

Orpheus and Eurydice are in love — crazy, delirious love. All is going well until a strange man lures Eurydice away from her wedding reception with a letter from her long-dead father. This luminescent, lyrical and surprisingly funny play weaves a tale of love, compassion, memory and longing, reminding us of the enduring bonds of love.

Ruhl’s story is a contemporary re-imagining of the classic Orpheus myth, where the young lovers are torn apart on their wedding day by the bride’s untimely death. Distraught, Orpheus resolves to retrieve her, using his music to charm the guardians of the underworld. The Lord of The Underworld agrees to release her, so long as Orpheus does not turn to see her until they are both safely above ground.

“I've always been fascinated by Greek myth, and I like that everyone knows a story I'm telling,” says Ruhl. “There's a kind of structural vibration in knowing what the bones of the story are, but not how it's going to be told. It's the change-ups that are the sticking points." And change-ups abound. Ruhl tells the story from Eurydice’s perspective and adds Eurydice’s Father to the mix. The play is rife with theatrical flair, quirky humor, and a heart full of love and longing.

A Pulitzer finalist, winner of a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Sarah Ruhl is one of the finest playwrights of her generation. Other works include The Clean House, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, In The Next Room and Orlando.

“ [R]hapsodically beautiful. [A] love letter to the world.” NY Times

About St. Edward's University Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, St. Edward's University is named among the top five "Up-and-Coming Universities" in the Western Region by its academic peers in a 2011 U.S. News & World Report survey. For eight consecutive years St. Edward's has been recognized as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report and this year by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. St. Edward's is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university of more than 5,200 students located in Austin, Texas. For more information on St. Edward’s University, visit www.stedwards.edu.

Upcoming in 2010 at Winedale and at St Ed's

News about upcoming seasons at Winedale and at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, just received:

Dr. James Loehlin, director of the Shakespeare at Winedale program in the barn near Round Top, has scheduled

The Merchant of Venice on April 30 and May 1, 7 p.m., a presentation of the spring semester performance class.

In addition, on Saturday afternoon, May 1, the barn hosts 150 young players, drawn from third through sixth grade participants in UT's outreach programs, for a spring festival of play, followed by Eeyore's Birthday Party.

The summer program of Shakespeare at Winedale in July and August will present

Twelfth Night, Henry VI, Part I, and Macbeth

- - - -

Dr. Michael McKelvey greeted the opening night audience for City of Angels at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, with an announcement of an expanded five-play season for 2010 - 2011 and an invitation to purchase season tickets. Coming up:

The Imaginary Invalid by Molière, directed by David Long

September 16 - 26

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, directed by Michelle Polgar

November 11 - 21

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

February 3 - 13

On the Verge by Eric Overmyer, including student works

March 3 - 13

Carousel by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, directed by Michael McKelvey

based on Ferenc Molnár’s play Liliom

April 7 - 17

(Note: the St. Edward's drama program regularly uses guest artists from Actor's Equity, a performance and preparation bonus both for theatre students and for the audience.)

The Life of Galileo, Mary Moody Northern Theatre, St. Edward's University, November 12 -22

A lot is going on in Brecht's The Life of Galileo, and not just onstage. The program notes at the Mary Moody Northern Theatre will help you some, with a tidy summary of the historical figures, the heliocentric Ptolemaic model of the universe, and the heretical but accurate Copernican revision of it, and some of the elements of the plot.

With that crib sheet you can comfortably follow the depiction of that impatient and skeptical scientist's lifetime tussle with the Catholic Church. Director Michelle Polgar, three Actors' Equity members and the student cast and crew will give you the story, unrolling it much of the time in a design of curiously reduced lighting, as if the dark ages were lingering, literally, in the period 1610 - 1634.

You will not get much of a sense of the intensely brainy Bertolt Brecht or his reasons for fastening upon those 400-year-old events. Study of any of the several texts that Brecht crafted between 1938 and 1955 would show you that ideas and apprehension -- Angst -- are fundamental to the work.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, Mary Moody Northern Theatre, St. Edward's University, November 12 - 22

UPDATE: Click for ALT review, November 16

Found on-line:

The Life of Galileo

by Bertolt Brecht, translated by David Hare
Directed by Michelle Polgar
November 12-November 22, 2009
Mary Moody Northern Theatre
St Edward's University, 3001 South Congress Avenue

In 1609, in a small study in Padua, Galileo Galilei raises a telescope to the skies. What he finds there reverberates from the streets of Padua to the Vatican palace in Rome, sparking a debate that threatens his very survival. From master playwright Bertolt Brecht comes a theatrical discourse on reason, faith, power and the tension arising from scientific progress running headlong into age-old assumptions.

Featuring Equity guest artists David Stahl and David Stokey.

Tickets: Season and Flex passes go on sale August 26 through the MMNT box office. Passes start as low as $40 for four shows.
Box office hours are Monday–Friday from 1–5 p.m. Info phone: 512.448.8484

Map to St. Edward's University (theatre is at eastern end of campus)

[image is taken from the article Galileo and The Telescope, 1609 published by American Physical Society]

Wikipedia on Brecht's The Life of Galileo

Cyrano De Bergerac, Mary Moody Northern Theatre at St. Edward's, February 12 -22

Director Michelle Polgar orchestrates a fine, vigorous production of the wonderfully romantic French drama Cyrano de Bergerac, playing through this coming weekend at St Ed's Mary Moody Northern Theatre. Edmond Rostand modeled the lonely, pugnacious cavalier with the big nose on the historical figure of Hector Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac, a duelist and dramatist who did, in fact, fight in the Thirty Years' War between the French and the Spanish.

One of my French professors dismissed Rostand's play as clap-trap sentimentality, to my great dismay. My father, a reticent man, had given me a copy of the Modern Libary edition when I was about 15, and in my own lonely hours I had soared with the eloquence of Cyrano, mused at his contempt for death and admired his casual heroism. I suffered with him the colossal irony of his unwanted obligation to support and protect cadet Christian, that young fop who had attracted the admiration of Cyrano's secret belovéd, his own cousin Roxanne.

Anyway, those pompous profs in the French Department were wrapped up in existentialism, Camus and Sartre, those lurching intellectuals at the bleakest extremes of literature and philosophy.

Ah, to live greatly, like Cyrano! He speaks and lives so fully, steadfast to his muse and his friends, defending them selflessly with a flash of the rapier and a swift scribble of the pen. Rostand's play was a great success in Paris in 1897 and his version of Cyrano has been alive with us ever since. José Ferrer won an Oscar as best actor for his 1950 film portayal of Cyrano and the great, inevitable Gérard Depardieu was a memorable Cyrano in his 1990 film (subtitles furnished by Anthony Burgess, translator/adapter of the verse script used in St. Ed's production).

The play's four acts take us to a public theatre, to the pastry shop of the baker Rageneau, to the barracks of the cadets of Gascony, to their hungry existence in the fortress besieged by the Spanish troops, and finally, years later, to a quiet convent garden where the aged Cyrano regularly calls to bring widowed Roxanne his mocking comments about news from court.

Polgar's staging of the opening act uses the theatre's in-the-square configuration to great advantage. As spectators, we in the audience embody the public in that fictional theatre, ranged around the hollow square, awaiting the appearance of the tragedian Montfleury while observing the idle and the aristocratic who are milling about just in front of us. A narrow stage occupies one corner of the square playing space; perched high above us, diagonally across the open area, are the elegant Roxanne, her chaperone and an oily-looking pair of aristocratic suitors. At times the crowd of actors may block sightlines, especially for those spectators in the front rows, but Polgar subtly clears the space for Cyrano's first appearance, his elegantly derisive replies to the challenge of a presumptuous young nobleman, and the fast-moving, fatal duel that follows.

David M. Long is a vivid, quick-witted Cyrano. His friend Le Bret (Greg Holt) frets about Cyrano's delight in insulting the powerful, but Long is airily dismissive of poverty and pains. He quickly wins our sympathy, just as he has won the fascinated loyalty of the corps of cadets.

Roxanne (Julia Trinidad) is the focus of all sentiment in this piece. She is enchanted by the sight of the aristocratic young Christian de Neuvillette, whom she has eyed from afar at the theatre, and Christian responds with silent fascination. Cyrano is deeply enamoured of Roxanne but convinced that she could never love someone with as disfigured a nose as his own. The Count De Guiche (Marc Pouhé), self-assured nephew of Cardinal de Richelieu, schemes to put Roxanne into a marriage of convenience so that he can take her as his mistress. Julia Trinidad must play this as an ingenue throughout. She begs Cyrano to protect Christian as he joins Cyrano's regiment; tongue-tied Christian begs Cyrano to lend his eloquence to woo Roxanne.

Long as Cyrano (left) and Christopher Smith as Christian (right) craft their relationship well. On his first day with the cadets, Christian tosses Cyranoesque gibes at the older man and the cadets are confounded to see that for once, Cyrano does not simply skewer an insulter. Banishing the others, Cyrano dutifully tells Christian of Roxanne's hopes. The mentor-protegé relationship between them is clever, touching and credible. They're particularly comic as doppelgänger suitors, a pair of Romeos falling all over one another in the dark of the garden below Roxanne's window.

So our hero woos and wins Roxanne, but only by proxy. He helps foil the wicked De Guiche. Marc Pouhé as De Guiche is so smooth and well-mannered that we have some trouble imagining him as really evil; he's closer in attitude to Peter Pan's Captain Hook.

The pace is snappy throughout, at times too quick -- for example, in the sequence of Cyrano's witty replies to the lame insult, "Sir, your nose is -- rather large!" Cyrano tells his adversary, "You could have done much better!" and extemporizes a dozen or more -- announcing a style of insult and then delivering a hilarious example. Each is more comic than the preceding, and when the cadence is captured, the full scene builds, to be capped off by Cyrano's extempore sonnet during the duel.

And then there's Cyrano's melancholy, which Long captures fully only in the sublime final scene. For me the divine spark of poetry lights a darkness of disappointment in this man, bravely covered by his jests and commotion. Cyrano at the Mary Moody Northern Theatre is epic and captivating, a hero never daunted. Rarely in this version does he pause to acknowledge or contemplate his disappointment. If we were to glimpse that tragic sense at moments during the play, his final face-off with Death would be even more moving for us.

Elizabeth Cobbe's enthusiastic review for the Austin Chronicle, February 19