FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Estela Hernandez [email protected] 415-525-1205

CYRANO THE CLASSIC TALE OF PASSION AND PANACHE

by Edmond Rostand | in a new version by Marissa Skudlarek | directed by Ariel Craft ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

April 9 – May 10, 2020 Press Opening: Monday, April 13 at 7pm ​

Cutting Ball Theater 277 Taylor Street, San Francisco CA 94102

cuttingball.com

San Francisco CA, February 26 2020 – Cutting Ball Theater closes its 2019/2020 Season with Cyrano, Edmond Rostand’s classic tale of passion and panache in a new version by San ​ ​ ​ Francisco translator-adaptor Marissa Skudlarek, directed by Cutting Ball’s Artistic Director ​ ​ Ariel Craft. Cyrano opens in preview performances on April 9 and runs through May 10. Press ​ ​ ​ Opening is scheduled for Monday, April 13 at 7pm. Tickets range in price $15 - $45 and are ​ ​

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available for purchase online at cuttingball.com/productions/cyrano or by phone at ​ ​ 415-525-1205. ​

ABOUT CYRANO ​

Cyrano loves Roxane. Roxane loves Christian. Christian, in return, loves Roxane. What shot has Cyrano, the lonely point on this love triangle, got?

Cyrano’s love is the kind that scales balconies, vanquishes foes, and weakens knees. Cyrano is a fearless warrior, an expert wordsmith, marked by pride and panache – but Cyrano’s ugliness, a famed and unforgivable nose, makes a fool of our would-be romantic hero. There, that intoxicating and all too familiar ache of wanting someone who doesn’t want you in return.

Rostand’s classic play about a mega-nosed, love-crazed poet is the original case of catfishing: Cyrano wins their heart’s desire while wearing the mask of another (more sightly) suitor. History’s greatest unrequited love story, Cyrano begs the question: what would you do for love ​ ​ — and what the hell is holding you back? ​

In Cutting Ball’s striking reimagining of Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, self-perception is all that ​ ​ stands between you and life’s greatest adventures. “Love stories are for everyone and about ​ everyone,” said Cyrano director and Cutting Ball’s Artistic Director Ariel Craft, “But when we ​ ​ don't chase want, because we can't conceive of ourselves as a Romeo or Juliet, what do we do with all that love in us — as volatile, potent, and raging to be named as the love of any romantic hero?"

Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac has been continuously produced for more than 120 years and ​ ​ reimagined in various adaptations, across disciplines, like the film Roxanne starring Steve ​ ​ Martin and the recent Netflix original teen-romance Sierra Burgess is a Loser. The last year has ​ ​ ushered in a sort of Cyrano renaissance, with actors like James McAvoy, at the National ​ ​ Theatre in London, and Peter Dinklage, in a musical version in New York, assuming the title role.

Now, Cutting Ball brings the Bay Area its own freshly re-envisioned version of this well-worn classic, in a world premiere version by San Francisco translator-adaptor Marissa Skudlarek. Of the popularity and ‘cool-factor’ of Rostand’s original play, Skudlarek said: “You could even call it the Hamilton of the Belle Epoque: a smash hit about hot-headed young people who write letters ​ ​ and fight duels! But some of the most widely available English translations of this youthful, fiery play are ponderous and stuffy.” Skudlarek continued, “My primary goal for my version has been to honor the swiftness and playfulness of the original.”

In the company’s signature style of athletically reimagining sprawling classic plays in its modest black box theater, Cutting Ball performs Cyrano, originally written for a cast of over 50, with just ​ ​ eight actors and an evocative, unencumbered aesthetic. "Traditionally, Cyrano de Bergerac is ​ ​

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built on extravagant costumes and nose putty, a pageant of caricature-ish differences.” says director Craft. Cutting Ball’s Cyrano unburdens the play of its pomp while amplifying its startling ​ ​ depth of emotion, the palpitating desire at each character’s core, and its raw investigation of relationship to one’s self. “Our stripped-bare Cyrano is about our own perceptions of self, the ​ ​ invention of insecurity. This is a story about ugliness and beauty, but - in our version - what you'll see onstage is oneness, similarity instead of difference," said Craft.

With an all women and non-binary cast, Cutting Ball’s Cyrano eschews traditionally gendered ​ ​ casting and reshapes Rostand’s verse so that characters’ pronouns and gender identities reflect those of the actors portraying them. In this script refresh, both Cyrano and Christian — two rivals for Roxane’s affections — identify as non-binary, using they/them pronouns. Skudlarek said, “We want to show that Cyrano is a play for everyone who was ever proud and ​ ​ over-dramatic and insecure — everyone who was ever a young person in hopeless love.”

Akaina Ghosh makes their Cutting Ball debut in the title role; a Resident Artist at the San ​ Francisco Shakespeare Festival and a Core Artist at Ragged Wing Ensemble, Ghosh is passionate about reconstructing historically significant narratives through a feminist lens and generating new works that center feminine and non-binary voices. Completing the love triangle at the play’s center are Maria Marquis, recipient of Theatre Bay Area and San Francisco Bay ​ ​ Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, as Roxane and Linda Girón, recently onstage at ​ ​ AlterTheater and Shotgun Players, as Christian.

Renee Rogoff, most recently seen in Ways to Leave a Body at Cutting Ball, takes on the ​ ​ ​ villainous De Guiche while Chibueze Crouch, a Nigerian-American performance artist and ​ ​ 2019 RHE Fellowship recipient, plays Cyrano’s best friend and confidant Le Bret. Rounding out the cast of eight are Julie Douglas (We Players, Impact Theatre), Megan Briggs (Custom ​ ​ ​ ​ Made Theatre Co., EXIT Theatre), and Emily Dwyer (Ray of Light Theatre, Oasis San ​ ​ Francisco).

Translator-adaptor Marissa Skudlarek is a San Francisco playwright whose previous ​ ​ translations include Jean Cocteau’s Orphée and whose original works include You’ll Not Feel ​ ​ ​ ​ the Drowning, Pleiades, and Juana, or The Greater Glory. Director Ariel Craft is Cutting Ball ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Theater’s Artistic Director whose recent directing credits include Free For All: A New ‘Miss Julie’ ​ for a New World, La Ronde, and Phèdre (Theatre Bay Area Award, Outstanding Direction of a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Play) at Cutting Ball and Vinegar Tom at Shotgun Players. ​ ​

Cutting Ball Theater’s Cyrano features scenic designs by Mikiko Uesugi, costume designs by ​ ​ ​ ​ Tammy Berlin, lighting designs by Cassie Barnes, sound designs by James Ard, properties ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ designs by Adeline Smith, and choreography by Natalie Greene. ​ ​ ​ ​

Please note pronouns for the artists involved in Cutting Ball Theaters’s Cyrano, detailed below: ​ ​ Edmond Rostand - playwright - he/him ​ ​ Marissa Skudlarek - translator, adaptor - she/her ​ ​

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Ariel Craft - director - she/her ​ ​ Akaina Ghosh - actor: Cyrano - they/them ​ ​ Maria Marquis - actor: Roxane, others - she/her ​ ​ Linda Girón - actor: Christian, others - they/them ​ ​ Renee Rogoff - actor: De Guiche, others - she/her ​ ​ Chibueze Crouch - actor: Le Bret, others - she/her ​ ​ Julie Douglas - actor: Ragueneau, others - she/her ​ ​ Megan Briggs - actor: Duenna, others - she/her ​ ​ Emily Dwyer - actor: Carbon, others - they/them ​ ​ Mikiko Uesugi - scenic designer - she/her ​ ​ Tammy Berlin - costume designer - she/her ​ ​ Cassie Barnes - lighting designer - she/her ​ ​ James Ard - sound designer - he/him ​ ​ Adeline Smith - properties designer - she/her ​ ​ Natalie Greene - choreographer - she/her ​ ​

Cyrano is part of the Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival. The Bay Area Women’s Theatre ​ ​ ​ Festival was founded to usher in the widely-held gender parity goal of 50-50 in 2020. All works featured in the festival are written and directed by theater practitioners who are women+ or non-binary with at least 50% performers and designers who are women+ or non-binary.

Promotion photographs for Cutting Ball Theater’s Cyrano will be available for download at cuttingball.com/press on March 10. ​

ABOUT CUTTING BALL

For twenty-one years, Cutting Ball Theater has been championing the unusual and the evocative, reimagining how narratives can be told, and producing plays for audiences with bold and curious tastes in San Francisco. Over the years, Cutting Ball has received recognition and honors from numerous grantmakers and media outlets including the San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco Weekly, San Francisco Magazine, the Acker Awards, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the American Theatre Wing. Cutting Ball Theater was founded by Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers and is currently led by Artistic Director Ariel Craft. For more information about Cutting Ball Theater, visit cuttingball.com. ​ ​

Cutting Ball Theater’s 2019/2020 Season is made possible in part by The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, California Arts Council, Dolby Laboratories, The Fleishhacker Foundation, Grants for the Arts, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Koret Foundation, The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Sam Mazza Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, The Shubert Foundation, Theatre Bay Area, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Wells Fargo Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Zendesk, and season producers Erik Blachford and Maryam Mohit, Robert Chlebowski, Mark Rabine and Lydia Chavez, Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock, Mikkel Svane, and Dave and Kate Yrueta.

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FACT SHEET

WHAT

Cutting Ball Theater presents Cyrano ​ ​ ​ by Edmond Rostand ​ in a new version by Marissa Skudlarek ​ directed by Ariel Craft ​

Cast: Akaina Ghosh, Maria Marquis, Linda Maria Girón, Renee Rogoff, Chibueze Crouch, Julie ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Douglas, Megan Briggs, Emily Dwyer ​ ​ ​ ​

Creative Team: Mikiko Uesugi (scenic designer), Tammy Berlin (costume designer), Cassie Barnes ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (lighting designer), James Ard (sound designer), Adeline Smith (properties designer), Natalie Greene ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (choreographer)

WHEN

April 9 – May 10, 2020 Thursdays at 7pm Fridays at 8pm Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 2pm

Previews: Thurs, April 9 at 7pm | Fri, April 10 at 8pm ​ Press Opening: Mon, April 13 at 7pm ​

WHERE

Cutting Ball Theater 277 Taylor Street San Francisco, CA 94102

TICKETS

$15 - $45 Online: cuttingball.com/productions/cyrano ​ Phone: 415-525-1205 ​

FOR MORE INFORMATION cuttingball.com For press inquiries: Estela Hernandez at [email protected] ​

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