Cyrano de Bergerac: A Great Performance From Ancient Times - Essay Sample

Introduction

Since ancient times, plays have been used to communicate range information to a targeted audience. Additionally, the success of a play in achieving its objectives is primarily centered on the ability of a director to coordinate the actors in performing their respective scenes adequately. The play Great Performances, Cyrano de Bergerac is among the globally renowned romantic piece that has often been referenced by lovers of film for its ingenious composition. The Great Performances, Cyrano de Bergerac is among the notable romantic compositions that exist today and the plot of its composition revolves around three men, who fall in love with the same woman.

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Description of What the Playwright Is Striving To Say about Life

The playwright in the play is striving to state that no one in the world is perfect. Additionally, that is because one individual can be blessed with one quality and absolutely lack different qualities that might be perceived to be socially ideal. For instance, in reference to the featured play, Cyrano lacks the physical attractiveness due to his abnormally long nose. However, Cyrano is also blessed with the art of poetry, which has a significant impact on attracting Roxanne, who she loves. Additionally, in the featured play, the universal need that needs to be met by the characters is love.

In this case, Roxanne is an intelligent beautiful woman who is very attractive to a number of male characters featured in the poem. The men include Cyrano, who loves Roxanne secretly but fears to tell the lady. The second man is Christian, who is a young handsome cadet who falls for Roxanne but with no poetry skills to woo Roxanne. The third man is De Guiche who is an influential married nobleman who is also in love with Roxanne. As such, based on the play's analysis, love and a sense of belonging are the primary needs for the majority of the characters, and it lies on the third level in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

The problem that needs to be solved is the development of effective communication to express personal feelings about love to others. Citing the main characters in the play, there is a problem for the characters to express how they feel to Roxanne. For instance, Cyrano does not know how to express his feelings to Roxanne and ends up frustrated when she marries Christian. Contrary, Christian does not have the right social-linguistic skills to woo Roxanne and he ends up relying on Cyrano's poetry skills to win her love.

The protagonist in the play is Cyrano and he is trying to solve the problem of having true love with Roxanne. Additionally, this can be manifested by his efforts to woo Roxanne through poetry by masquerading as Christian. Nevertheless, the central conflict in the play is Roxanne's plight in falling in love with the wrong man and her marriage ending up in divorce. However, after Christian's death, Cyrano who is the main character of the play strives to win over Roxanne's love. However, by the time Cyrano is revealed to Roxanne as her true love, he is too injured to live and enjoy his love with her after years of waiting for his chance.

Discussion of the Impact That the Play Have In My Life

The play affects me emotionally through my sympathy for Cyrano who dies just he finally reveals himself to Roxanne. Contrary, intellectually, the play enlightens me to be open about my feelings to those I care about so as to avoid emotional suffering that I could have avoided in the first place. Also, philosophically, the play teaches me to place my emotional needs first so as to be in a position to support the emotional needs of others. Additionally, this is in order to achieve true happiness or satisfaction in life. Also, the play makes me experience a state of frustration that an individual in Cyrano's emotional position might go through in life

In this case, that is from being unable to appreciate his/her physical characteristics and judging himself/herself inadequate in the face of others in society. As such, the play reinforced the way I think, feel, act believe and behave towards others with respect to my emotional attachments. Specifically, from the play, I would rather open up about my feelings to others rather than keeping quiet about them. Lastly, the play made me change the way I conduct my life since it made me become sensitive to others, especially if they express emotional interests towards me.

Discussion of the Impact of the Playwright's Collaborative Artists and Craftspeople on the Play

The coordination of acts by different characters in the play and other craftspeople that facilitated the success of the scenes enabled me to substantially enjoy the scenes. In this case, the transition of different scenes was flawless and their sequencing was carefully executed to enhance their understanding by the targeted audience. There are four notables actors that can be considered to be the primary character in the featured. The characters include Roxanne, played by Jennifer Garner, and Cyrano played by Kelvin Kline. Other characters included Christian, played by Max Baker and De Guiche, which was played by Peter Jay Fernandez.

The stated characters were believable as the acts they played in the set. Additionally, that is because their costumes were styled to fit the personality and age of each of the characters featured in the play's set. Moreover, the stated characters were loud enough to be heard by all persons watching the play. Also, the identified characters intelligibly used simple words in their interactions during the play, which also enhanced the audience of the play's ability to understand the components of different scenes. Additionally, I empathized with Cyrano, as a primary character in the plot of the play's composition.

The empathy that I had towards Cyrano was nurtured due to his unique ability to express love towards Roxanne through spoken words. Also, the facial expression made by Cyrano's character also made me empathetic towards his plight. Particularly, that is in reference to the state where Cyrano was forced to live with a secret love for Roxanne, without seeking a chance to express to her how he felt about her. Subsequently, the manifestation of emotions through the facial expressions made by the characters made me drawn into the play to the extent that I almost forgot that they acting.

Evaluation of the Director's Work

The director's work in the production was unified in the play to achieve his objective. Additionally, that is because the director's goal in the creation of the play was to recount a narrative illustrating the impact of love - both happiness and sorrow - in different persons in a society. In this case, the ability of the play to captivate any audience and to be understood by all persons watching the play can be cited as a confirmation of the director's success in achieving his objective. Furthermore, in terms of scene-setting, the director has also achieved his objective.

In this case, the play flowed seamlessly from one point to the next and without losing its targeted audience. Arguably, this can be considered to be the primary triumph attained by the director of the play. Lasting, the casting of the play was on point. Specifically, that is in reference to the quality and adornment of the plops used by the characters of the play. Also, the use of the stated props was accurate and there were no surprises recorded from mistakes or errors made by the cast when the play was on the air. Collectively, such triumphs can further affirm the success of the director's work.

Impact of the Design Elements in the Production of the Play

In the featured play, there are four distinct elements that can be cited to have made a substantial impact on the production of the composition. The stated elements include the lighting, sound, costumes as well as scenery and they played a key part in enhancing the overall quality of the play's production. In my opinion, the lighting of the stage was perfect as it dimed in the background and illuminated at the front where the characters were illustrating their respective parts. Subsequently, this phenomenon in lighting ensured that the audience's core focus was on the piece's characters.

Harmonica sounds were also employed as backtracks in the featured play. The sounds had altered pitch, with high pitches evoking suspense of a scene among the audience. On the other hand, the characters of the play wore ancient century attires to enhance the theme of the play as a traditional piece of a romantic artistic composition. Lastly, the stage's scenery was set in the 17th or 18th, which can be manifested through the costumes and English accent used by the characters of the play. Collectively, the stated strengths of the four elements enhance the overall appeal and performance of the featured play to the targeted audience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the play Great Performances, Cyrano de Bergerac is among the notable romantic compositions that exist today. Additionally, the plot of the composition revolves around three men, who fall in love with the same woman. Additionally, the plot illustrates the plight of men who are unable to express their emotional affections to women. Also, the primary need that needs to be addressed in the featured play is love or self of belonging that ranks on the third level in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Lastly, in the composition of the play, the director of the plot was able to achieve his objectives. Additionally, that is through the use of composition elements like lighting, costume, sound as well as sceneries in its composition.