Theater review: A strong Cyrano lifts an uneven production in Good Company Players’ ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’

March 18, 2026

By Heather Parish

Sometimes it takes a musician to do a classic language role justice and raise a middling production to something a little bit better. Such is the case with Good Company Players’ “Cyrano de Bergerac,” adapted by Laurie Pessano from a 1923 translation of Edmond Rostand’s beloved play.

Set in 1640s France, the story follows Cyrano (Ted Nunes), a brilliant poet and soldier whose wit and verbal dexterity are matched only by his insecurity about his famously large nose. In love with the luminous Roxane (Jessica Rose Knotts), Cyrano lends his eloquence to the handsome but inarticulate Christian (Benjamin Geddert), crafting letters and speeches that win her heart at the cost of his own.

Rapiers and Revelry

First, let me be clear: there are things here to enjoy. It is undeniably entertaining to watch a cast who really seem to be having a ball with each other, and that kind of shared enjoyment is nearly always a diverting evening in the theater.

Pessano’s script keeps the story clear and straightforward, offering ample opportunity for swaggering swordplay and romantic posturing. The two-hour-and-fifteen-minute runtime moves at a sprightly pace under her direction. David Pierce’s simple set leaves generous room for action, which Pessano uses to good effect, while Ginger Kay Lewis-Reed’s costumes revel in lush jewel tones and fussy 17th-century detail (thankfully without the long ringlet wigs!). The cast charges the stage with purpose at each entrance and exit—one reason why period pieces like this remain a pleasure to watch.

Ted Nunes spars with a scene partner in Cyrano de Bergerac at Good Company Players.

[media-credit name="courtesy of Good Company Players" align="aligncenter" width="547"][/media-credit] Ted Nunes spars with a rival in “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Thankfully, the ringlet wigs were the only things cut in the production.

That said, the production struggles to sustain its momentum, particularly in the ensemble scenes. Much of the action is observed by the ensemble, who are given little to do but stand and watch, and the staging sometimes reflects that inertia. The leads, too, sometimes seem trapped in their own staging, with little to do other than stare into the middle distance.

Parries without precision

The ensemble, while occasionally lively, never quite gels. There are flashes of swaggering fun—particularly from Matt Comegys, Christopher Hanson, and Daniel Sutherland among the Cavalier troops—and welcome levity from Alex Vaux (Ragueneau) and Christopher J. Baeza (Le Bret), along with Erin Brown and Isabella Teresa Gliatta in assorted roles. But overall, it’s a mixed bag, with uneven performances that suggest missed opportunities to really flesh out the world of the play and make the small moments really sing.

The featured roles do what they can with characters that feel cut from cloth too thin for full coverage. There is humor, action, and romance—everything one might want in a swashbuckling epic—but the seams are loose, and the fit is imperfect. Geddert (as handsome dimwit Christian) and Joshua Shadle (as resident traitor Comte de Guiche) both contend with wooden, stock roles, yet each finds more ease and dimension as their characters develop. They have some good moments as their characters depart.

Knotts is at turns charming and imperious as Roxane, her performance deepening into genuine warmth as the story moves toward her final, shattering revelation. I wished, however, for more effective lighting in the iconic balcony scene; it would be a gift to better see Roxane’s rising emotional glow as she absorbs Cyrano’s most inspired poetry spoken from the shadows.

A masterful riposte

At the center stands Nunes as Cyrano, the very tall shoulders upon which this production perches. His language work is impressively strong, and as an accomplished musician and songwriter, Nunes brings a finely tuned ear to the rhythms and notes of the language. His comfort onstage and fluid physicality rise to meet the demands of the role, elevating the material around him — a welcome asset, given that Cyrano is rarely offstage.

While the ensemble may be uneven and the script is in an early iteration, its strengths lie in the clarity of its storytelling and the delicate rendering of its central themes: pride, vanity, and the peril of judging by surface appearances. In Cyrano’s world, poet-soldiers were the cultural rock stars of their day; now, we have influencers, athletes, and pop stars filling that role. In either era, the lesson lands cleanly: surrendering your authenticity to save face may be the most self-defeating cut of all.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” continues at the 2nd Space Theatre through April 19.