“This is a dream play of ours,� says director Audrey Barrett of Cold Frame Collective’s new staging of Cyrano de Bergerac. “It's a script that I have loved since I was in high school. Caroline [Bobbitt], my partner in the company, grew up watching the 1950 movie. So it was close to both of our hearts. And for years, we've talked about it very hypothetically. But it's a really, really big play and it requires a lot. So it's kind of been like in the future someday.�
After a few years of feeling not quite ready to tackle it, Cold Frame decided this year that it was time. “And then, yeah, we felt like we were ready,� Barrett says. “And we feel like, for being as widely adapted as it is � and it's just like one of the stories that is the most well known � the play is not produced very much. So we were just really excited to get to produce it.�
For this production, the famed poet and swordsman Cyrano is played by Kathleen Fletcher, who says she never expected to play the role in her career, but did a little online campaigning for the role anyway. “Audrey had posted on the Cold Frame social media the announcement of doing Cyrano and I sent a private DM that was like Lady Cyrano? And I kind of meant it in a joking way,� Fletcher says, “but also in a serious way of like, I just always want there to be more women in leading roles.�
Cold Frame has worked hard to create their own unique take on the classic play. “We have found ourselves doing a lot of classics,� Barrett says, “but we love to do them in ways that hopefully they will not have been seen before.� Still, Fletcher and Barrett have consulted a lot of adaptations and pop culture references to Cyrano.
There’s the classic 1950 film version with José Ferrer “which we both believe is just an absolutely brilliant adaptation,� Barrett says.
“There's a Star Trek episode that's a Cyrano riff,� Fletcher adds. “There's actually two!�
One of Fletcher’s favorites is also my own favorite film version of the play. “The movie Roxanne was a favorite growing up,� Fletcher says. “Starring Steve Martin, [it’s a] modern adaptation of Cyrano. That's the one that I can really reference. That and the Wishbone episode ‘Cyranose,� which, you know, I really relate to.�
“I could rant about [Cyrano] forever,� Barrett says. I think I've just been in love with the character of Cyrano forever. He's so self-deprecating. But he has this cockiness that is just irresistible. He's just the coolest.�
“It's been such an incredible role to get to tackle,� Fletcher says. “And even just learning the script in such an intimate way. I remember going through it and fighting back tears. And by 'fighting back,' I mean I relented over to them. But [it’s] just such a funny, moving, complex script.�
