Tachis & Lo’s Woman-Centered Classic Upends Patriarchal Power

by Jenyth Jo

In a time when we cannot trust our old-boy ‘leaders,’ Berkeley Shakes’ “Cyrano” offers dazzling female power. As lovers and fighters, these women rule the stage.

In the original “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Edmond Rostand’s macho Cyrano has an enormous nose that prevents romantic success. In Max Tachis and Jeffrey Lo’s adaptation, Elana Swartz’s agile Cyrano lacks a physical deformity, but she’s a GIRL who refuses to stay in her lane. And she loves another girl: Roxane.

Swartz’s Cyrano never backs down from a fight. She takes delicious joy in disarming uber-arrogant Count De Guiche (Evan Winet) during the opening duel. Swartz has plenty of verbal and physical dexterity to prove women can be more accomplished fighters than men, which Roxane admires.

Winet’s DeGuiche enters as a pompous, bewigged aristocrat with the perfect amount of cringey flair. His booming voice fills the theater, until Cyrano arrives. Then, he scampers off stage like a toddler afraid of being spanked.

Cyrano’s poke at the patriarchy brings howls of laughter.  The ensemble’s antic chants and dances add glee to the entertainment. Instead of throwing rotten fruit, they assault with foam balls, some reaching the crowd.

We love a love triangle. When Roxane falls for pretty-boy Christian (Jess Rodgers), these two beauties need the words of soldier-poet Cyrano to ignite their romance. Reliably truthful Cyrano sacrifices his own chance at happiness. He believes writing to Roxane (Amber McCann) on behalf of Christian might save her from the clutches of the wealthy and predatory DeGuiche family.

We learn who really controls war-hungry Count DeGuiche: his Countess (Shelley McDowell). This woman power poses in her designer suits, more dangerous than her husband.

Roxane stands at the intersection of love, lies, and war. Instead of Rostand’s irritating, over-adored young woman who uses her ‘pretty privilege’ to gain lovers, this Roxane wants to fund schools instead of wars.

In a gorgeous Boho dress and tall cowboy boots, the statuesque Swartz displays more nuance and substance than a woman in love with love. She can turn a phrase, telling Christian: “the heat of all your letters has frosted over,” when he fails to speak as well as he writes.

As noble but simple Christian, Rodgers discovers, at the battlefront, that Cyrano also loves Roxane. This moving scene elevates truth over lies. Rodgers isn’t clowning anymore, as he slyly disarms Cyrano and dashes recklessly into battle.  What a waste of a pretty face.

One compelling new speech criticizes wars and land grabs. Truth-telling journalist Ligniere (wonderful Torey Bookstein) sings “House of the Rising Sun,” as Cyrano’s soldiers starve and wait for reinforcements. Money can buy armaments but cannot restore the loss of beloved humans.

“Cyrano” examines lies and their consequences in love and war. Whether it’s Cyrano writing letters as Christian, Roxane’s lie of omission to keep DeGuiche at bay, or Countess DeGuiche’s betrayal of her compatriots at the siege, we see how distorted words cause death and destruction.

“Cyrano” inspires us to believe “The future is female.”  With mothers in charge, fewer husbands and lovers and sons and brothers will be slaughtered.

 

“Cyrano” by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Max Tachis and Jeffrey Lo, directed by Skyelar Clouse, costumes by Alejandra Wahl, set by Court Sutherland, lighting by Edie Saavedra, sound by Torren Velera, by Berkeley Shakespeare Company, at Live Oak Theater, Berkeley.

Info: berkeleyshakes.org – to May 24, 2026.

Cast:  Elana Swartz, Amber McCann, Tristan Kelley, Jess Rodgers, Shelly McDowell, Evan Winet, Erin Perry, George Alexander K., Torey Bookstein, Emmett Smith, and Nathaniel Howe.

Banner photo: Amber McCann (Roxane) & Elana Swartz (Cyrano). Photos: Sara Nicole, Mindful Photography