Cast and Creatives announced for Cyrano de Bergerac

Brian Ferguson cast as Cyrano de Bergerac and Pam Hogg joins as Costume Designer for upcoming production of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Article Source: Precise Media on behalf of National Theatre of Scotland
Last Updated: 1 June 2018 16:20

Cast and creatives announced for Cyrano de Bergerac

• Brian Ferguson takes on the role of Cyrano de Bergerac, leading a cast including Jessica Hardwick in the role of Roxane

• Legendary Scottish fashion designer and artist Dr Pam Hogg joins production as Costume Designer

The National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh present
Cyrano de Bergerac
By Edmond Rostand
Translated by Edwin Morgan

Directed by Dominic Hill, Set Designer Tom Piper, Costume Designer Pam Hogg, Lighting Designer Lizzie Powell, Composer and Sound Designer Nikola Kodjabashia, Movement Director Kally Lloyd-Jones, Fight Director Renny Krupinski

Cast includes: Brian Ferguson, Jessica Hardwick, Isobel McArthur, Nalini Chetty, Angus Miller, Keith Fleming, Gabriel Quigley, Maggie Bain, and Bhav Joshi
At Tramway, Glasgow, the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh and Eden Court Theatre, Inverness from 1 September to 10 November 2018.

Opening press performance at Tramway, Glasgow, on Wed 05 September at 7.30pm

Three of Scotland’s major theatre companies, the National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre, and The Lyceum, are set to bring Cyrano de Bergerac back to Scotland’s stages, with a new co-production of Edwin Morgan’s celebrated Glaswegian-Scots translation of the classic Rostand play. The production, directed by Citizens Theatre Artistic Director Dominic Hill, will play in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Inverness from 1 September to 10 November 2018.

Brian Ferguson is cast in the role of Cyrano de Bergerac, having previously worked with the National Theatre of Scotland on 2016’s Anything That Gives Off Light (The TEAM) and on the original production of Black Watch. Ferguson also starred in Dominic Hill’s 2014 production of Hamlet at the Citizens Theatre, and in A Number at The Lyceum in 2017. He will head up an ensemble cast of actors and musicians, including Jessica Hardwick as Roxane, Angus Miller as Christian, Gabriel Quigley as Ragueneau, Nalini Chetty as Le Bret, Keith Fleming as De Guiche, Maggie Bain as Valvert, and further ensemble members Isobel McArthur and Bhav Joshi.

Dominic Hill will work with a strong creative team, including legendary Scottish fashion designer and artist Pam Hogg, who joins the production as Costume Designer. She trained at the Glasgow School of Art before gaining her Master of Arts from the Royal College of Art, London. Since launching her first fashion collection in 1981 she has created clothes worn by Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux, Bjork, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna. She presented her first catwalk show in 1985 and continues to create, direct, produce and style her collections each season at London Fashion Week. In 2016 she designed bespoke statuettes for the thirteen winners at the Brit Awards.

In 2017 Pam was invited to present a TED Talk in Glasgow, and that same year she received an honorary doctorate from the GSA at the Glasgow University for her contribution to fashion. Pam Hogg’s work has been displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Tate in St Ives, Pompidou Centre in Paris, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Christie’s in New York, The Barbican in London, The Winter Palace in Vienna, and the Summerhall in Edinburgh. Awards include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Scottish Fashion Council (2009), a Great Scot Award (2012), and an Award for Creative Excellence from the Scottish Fashion Council (2013). In June this year she will receive a Style Hall of Fame award, and in July has a solo exhibition opening in Liverpool as part of the Biennale.

The creative team reunites many of the artists who’ve collaborated on some of Dominic Hill’s most distinctive productions in recent years. Tom Piper has previously designed Long Day’s Journey Into Night, King Lear, Hamlet, Endgame, The Libertine, and Hay Fever (with The Lyceum). His recent work also includes the Lyceum’s acclaimed new version of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros by Zinnie Harris, which played at the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival, as well as the iconic poppy sculptures which toured the UK to mark the centenary of the First World War. Composer Nikola Kodjabashia (Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, A Christmas Carol, Hamlet, Crime and Punishment, and Oresteia: This Restless House co-produced with National Theatre of Scotland) and Lighting Designer Lizzie Powell (Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Endgame, The Choir, A Christmas Carol, The Libertine, and for National Theatre of Scotland Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, Adam, Glasgow Girls, Knives in Hens) also join the creative team. The team is completed by Company Chordelia founder and Artistic Director Kally-Lloyd Jones (The Belle’s Stratagem for The Lyceum and The Libertine and Doctor Faustus for the Citizens Theatre) as Movement Director and Fight Director Renny Krupinski.

The swashbuckling and flamboyant Cyrano’s low self-image prevents him from revealing his love to Roxane. He lends his poetic skills instead to the outwardly handsome Christian, who wins Roxane’s heart through his passionate ghost-written letters. Throughout his adventurous life, Cyrano continues to put quill to parchment, risking his life in the process, to express his true feelings. This production will see an epic ensemble of actors and musicians use Morgan’s lyrical Scots verse to create a fresh take on the enduringly popular period piece, in a vivid and joyous celebration of theatre itself.

The National Theatre of Scotland and Citizens Theatre reunite following the success of Oresteia: This Restless House, director Dominic Hill and Zinnie Harris’ award-winning drama which played at the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival. The National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre, and The Lyceum have previously collaborated as a triumvirate on Mary Stuart in 2006, and Six Characters in Search of an Author in 2008.

Originally staged by Communicado Theatre and directed by Gerry Mulgrew, Morgan’s Cyrano de Bergerac premiered in Inverness on 6 August 1992, and went on to tour to the Edinburgh Fringe and nationally to huge acclaim. Combining the company's swashbuckling physicality with Morgan's vivid, toothsome Scots translation, Communicado’s Cyrano has become one of the defining Scottish pieces of its era.

Cyrano de Bergerac Listings Info

Citizens Theatre at Tramway, Glasgow
Dates: Sat 01 to Sat 22 September 2018
Tickets: £15 - £26.50
Box Office: www.citz.co.uk

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Dates: Fri 12 Oct to Sat 03 Nov 2018
Tickets: £14 - £32
Box Office: www.lyceum.org.uk

Image credit: Mihaela Bodlovic