Cyrano in Glasgow by John Corbett
Of all the objects of desire that populate Cyrano de Bergerac – from the passionate
love triangle of Cyrano, Roxane and Christian, to Ragueneau’s perfect pastries –
the most intense ardour is reserved for the language itself. Cyrano’s rhetoric displays
his fantastic imagination, his bravado, his camaraderie, his contempt for
cowards, fools and hypocrites, his self-disgust, and his yearning for the
unattainable Roxane. And it is his language that ultimately wins her love.
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| Roxane (Jessica Hardwick) and Cyrano (Brian Ferguson) in rehearsals Image by Tim Morozzo |
In the translation by Edwin Morgan, who was, of course, a civic bard before he was a national makar, Cyrano’s language is rooted firmly in the rhythms and idiom of Glasgow, though it ranges beyond its origins, cadging words and phrases from elsewhere, whilst peppering the audience with pop cultural references too such as Gucci, Rambo and the Body Shop. But, at heart, the play is in Glaswegian, and Morgan’s use of the patter proves it capable of those things we knew it could do well, but also those perhaps we didn’t. Naturally, Cyrano’s Glaswegian does gallus invective beautifully, drawing on old flyting traditions to skewer whatever opponents get in his way, like the Troublemaker who, warily, says of his enormous nose ‘it’s wee, it’s toty’. Cyrano explodes into an ecstatic rage:
Ya snubby-honkered bap-faced nyaff, this thing
Ah cairry is a thing Ah’m proud
tae sing,
For a big nose is ay a sign o wan
That’s kind and croose and guid
tae ivrywan,
Witty and free, no yella – jist
like me!
But Morgan’s Glaswegian also does pathos and flirtatious
lyricism, as when Cyrano, impersonating Christian, speaks from his place of
concealment to Roxane on her balcony:
You see
the bleckness of a lang-tailed coat,
Ah see
the whiteness of a simmer dress;
Ah’m
but a shedda, you are aw brightness.
Minutes
oota life! Ye’ll nivir know how rerr!
If Ah
wis eloquent at times…
To which Roxane can only reply, ‘Ye were, ye were!’ Edwin
Morgan’s translation of Cyrano de
Bergerac is one of the great dramatic showcases for Glasgow Scots. Like the
citizens of Morgan’s home city, the characters in the play are all performers, revelling in a
full-throated wit, and combining chest-thumping audacity with tenderness and
vulnerability. But it’s their language you will ultimately fall for. Take your
seats and prepare to be seduced.
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| Cyrano rehearsals. Image by Tim Morozzo |
John Corbett is a CAPES International Fellow and Visiting Professor at the University of Sao Paulo.
Cyrano de Bergerac is a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. It runs at Tramway 1 – 22 Sep, The Lyceum 12 Oct – 3 Nov and Eden Court 7 – 10 Nov.
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