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It’s been a while since Adrian Lester graced the London stage: the only thing he’s done this decade is the low key post-pandemic show Hymn, at the Almeida, back in 2021.
But after scoring great notices in the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon production of Edmond Rostand’s panache-tastic romance Cyrano de Bergerac, the screen star – still possibly best known for his starring role in Spooks – will return to the West End for the first time in a decade later this year when Simon Evans’ production heads to the Noël Coward Theatre.
Co-starring the wonderful Susannah Fielding as Roxane, the true love of the gorgeously poetic but outwardly ugly Cyrano, the production is, by all accounts, a lot more traditional than Jamie Lloyd’s raptastic James McAvoy-starring production of a few years back. It’s a proper period production, and Lester’s Cyrano has a big old prosthetic nose.
Nonetheless, it’s an updated version by Evans and the poet Debris Stevenson, and Stratford reviews praised its tough heart, lack of chintz, and terrific performance from Lester as a Cyrano gripped with self-loathing.
For those unfamiliar with the play and story, it follows the romantic misadventures of the gifted but ugly French soldier Cyrano, who feels unable to woo the beautiful Roxane himself so instead opts for writing love letters to her on behalf of the pretty but dim Christian. Needless to say, this does not end particularly well.
Cyrano de Bergerac is at the Noël Coward Theatre, Jun 13-Sep 5. Tickets go on sale Feb 6 at 10am.
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