THEATER REVIEW : Davies Shines in Stirring, Uneven ‘Cyrano’

In many ways Edmond Rostand’s romantic drama “Cyrano de Bergerac” is a solo performance piece masquerading as a 26-character epic. Not since Plato surrounded Socrates with his entourage of sycophants have so many foils been assembled to reflect the luminance of one figure.

A magnificent figure, to be sure--Cyrano represents the last bloom of unbridled romanticism in all its noble, tragic and often silly excesses of obsession. And in Santa Susana Repertory Company’s revival at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, that nostalgic icon from a less cynical time comes handsomely to life through Lane Davies’ stirring performance, though other aspects of the staging prove more problematic.

An assured, virile presence, Davies is every inch the swashbuckling warrior-poet Rostand intended. There’s no mistaking his Cyrano’s lyrical sensitivity for weakness as he composes his verses between thrusts of his sword. Yet in his understated drooped shoulders and wounded eyes at the news his beloved Roxanne (spunky Therese Waldren) is infatuated with another, we feel the full measure of his sorrow.

Nowadays, it’s the play’s charged situation we respond to more than its rather clunky story line, though the distinction eludes many a staging. The incurable romantic who believes his one flaw (the signature extended nose) makes him unworthy of his heart’s desire yet devotes himself to her happiness, even if it means wooing her in the name of another (suitably clueless Paul Johansson)--this is the archetypal hook of noble self-sacrifice that remains unbroken throughout the play.

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But trying to make a convincing narrative out of Rostand’s dated and eclectic jumble of scenes can clutter the stage more than amplify the theme, as we find here.

Director Allan Hunt labors to fill out the story with more depth of character and motivation than either his uneven supporting cast or Rostand’s slender characterizations can fully carry, with near-glacial pacing the result at times.

Some staging choices are downright odd. The incidental romantic music swelling up during the pivotal balcony scene is not only unnecessary but confusing, since Cyrano himself has just called for musical queues to be used as signals. And for all her admirable self-sufficiency, Waldren’s Roxanne could register more genuine surprise at the final revelation that Cyrano authored the letters that won her heart.

With the play as much a love affair with language as with romantic passion, a tighter focus on the cadences of the verse rather than attempted nuances of performance might have drawn the rest of the company closer into Davies’ sphere of eloquence.

* “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Fridays, Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends May 19. $20. (805) 583-8700, (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000. Running time: 3 hours, 20 minutes.