{"id":1956,"date":"2019-12-18T08:27:19","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T08:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/?p=1956"},"modified":"2019-12-18T22:53:32","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T22:53:32","slug":"ode-to-the-nose-that-isnt-there-james-mcavoy-as-cyrano-de-bergerac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/2019\/12\/ode-to-the-nose-that-isnt-there-james-mcavoy-as-cyrano-de-bergerac.html","title":{"rendered":"Ode to the nose that isn\u2019t there: James McAvoy as Cyrano de Bergerac"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the nose
\nI suppose
\nBut there\u2019s not one of those
\nTo tell us we\u2019re back at Cyrano\u2019s.
\nTo the rage
\nOf the stage
\nAfficionados
\nOn McAvoy\u2019s face
\nNo outsize nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That blows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Praps it does
\nFor a minute
\nBut who needs a schnoz?
\nCos once he begins
\nAnd does what he does
\nAnd says what he says
\nWith that burr and that croon
\nThen we\u2019re Cyrano\u2019s army
\nWe\u2019d die for that loon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That grandstandish
\nOutlandish
\nThat boyintheband(ish)
\nNever birdinthehandish
\nHe raps and he rhymes.
\nA thrillingly rash fool
\nSurprisingly bashful
\nNot cape-, sword- or tache-ful
\nBut always panacheful,
\nHe seems to halt time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s striking on screen
(Lord Asriel: I mean)
But the stage is the cage
Where McAvoy gleams.
With bravura to pimp
In the bard, Barnes or Crimp
He\u2019s packed and compact
With the grin of a chimp
And the spike of a cactus
And a soul that\u2019s intact
To heartbreak and back.
The man can act<\/em>.
Fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the man can speak<\/em>.
The jury should peek
Neath the seats to see audience knees turn weak.
We hang on each clause
Daren\u2019t breathe in his pause
Collectively drop our boggling jaws.
We\u2019re drooling, unspooling,
Discarding-our-cool-ing
Each of us silently pity-the-fool-ing
As with murmur and whisper and concatenation
(God bless the arts of amplification)
McAvoy holds us close along Cyrano\u2019s trail
Through his love that can\u2019t speak and self-hatred that wails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyranos can offer vintage-style pleasures
Spectacular rhyming, spectacular forces,
The plummiest acting to frighten the horses.
It\u2019s a play that gets close to grand opera\u2019s treasures
Deliciously retro, as big as it gets \u2013 though
You may turn to drink to help you forget, so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here at the Playhouse
We\u2019re McAvoy\u2019s army
Braggadocious and barmy
The foe of the phony, the scourge of the smarmy.
From his head to his toes, his
Life lessons aglow, ’tis
An ethic he shows, this.
And what each of us knows is \u2013
Who needs the proboscis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyrano de Bergerac<\/a><\/em> by the Jamie Lloyd Company<\/a> is at the Playhouse Theatre, London, and will be screened by NT Live<\/a> on 20 February.<\/em> Phot<\/em>o by Marc Brenner.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow David on Twitter: @mrdavidjays<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the nose I suppose But there\u2019s not one of those To tell us we\u2019re back at Cyrano\u2019s. To the rage Of the stage Afficionados On McAvoy\u2019s face No outsize nose. That blows? Praps it does For a minute But who needs a schnoz? Cos once he begins And does what he does And says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[750,751,752,34],"class_list":{"0":"post-1956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-cyrano-de-bergerac","9":"tag-james-mcavoy","10":"tag-jamie-lloyd","11":"tag-theatre","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1959,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956\/revisions\/1959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}