Cyrano de Bergerac

Rostand's hero has become a figure of theatrical legend: Cyrano, with the nose of a clown and the soul of a poet, is by turns comic and sad, as reckless in love as in war, and never at a loss for words. Audiences immediately took him to their hearts, and since the triumphant opening night in December 1897 - at the height of the Dreyfus Affair - the play has never lost its appeal. Christopher Fry's acclaimed translation into `chiming couplets' represents the homage ofone verse dramatist to another.

Nicholas Cronk is a Fellow and Tutor in French at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. Christopher Fry is a verse playwright. He is the author of many well-known plays including The Lady's not for Burning.