By Janette Turner

“Let me die, steel in my heart and laughter on my lips!”

Laughter, fencing and love unite on the Wade James Theatre stage this weekend as Cyrano de Bergerac woos Roxane and Edmonds audiences. My Edmonds News got behind the scenes with an interview of “Cyrano de Bergerac” director Greg LoProto, who adapted this big-nosed classic for the Edmonds-based Driftwood Players Alternative Stages program.

My Edmonds News: What is your goal as director?

LoProto: We had two big goals when approaching this piece: the first was to tell it in 90 minutes. The original play is a massive, five-act powerhouse and to fit that into and hour or less before and after intermission (while still telling the entirety of the story) took a lot of finesse and imagination. We decided to use a “minimalist” style of staging to match the trimmed-down script to sort of encourage the audience fill in the gaps with their imagination. The other goal was to capture that certain something about Cyrano that makes this 100-plus-year-old play still accessible. There’s a certain life and energy to the characters that never really goes out of style, and we’ve done our best to grab hold of that and let it carry the production.

My Edmonds News: What was your audition process like? Any cast stories?

LoProto: I’m sorry to say, but there’s been little to no backstage drama to tell of! This has been one the most professional, driven and enthusiastic casts I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. From the moment each showed up at auditions to these final rehearsals, everyone has been ready, willing and able to take on whatever insane request I have next of them. This is not the easiest show to put together and a lot of the staging could be described as “unorthodox,” but they’ve been ready for it all, each and every one!

My Edmonds News: What are your favorite parts of the current play?

LoProto: Well, the duel at the beginning is always a crowd pleaser, and the famous balcony scene always gets me. But for this particular production, it’s been the group scenes – the crowd at the play in the first act, the soldiers on the battlefield in the fourth. We were lucky enough to get a wonderful group of performers to build the ensemble for the show, who fill in two, three, four roles throughout the play (often switching mid-scene!). The few times we get to see all of them together are wonderful; they bring great energy and life to the stage.

My Edmonds News: What quotes from the play do you feel are key?

LoProto: I have my favorites (“…let me die, steel in my heart and laughter on my lips!” or “…for you do tremble, like a blossom among leaves” always stick to me), but I hesitate to label any single one as “key.” The poetry will resonate differently for everyone, different pieces will stick out and stay with each who comes to hear it. Rather than tell anyone what to listen for, I’d love to hear what touched people the most, after the fact.

And Producer Carissa Meisner Smit joined the discussion:

I am always on the lookout for directors/ designers who feel passionate about my goal with the Alternative Stages program here at The Driftwood Players, which is to present great stories simply. Those plays range from the great classics like “Cyrano de Bergerac” to the contemporary like “Lonely Planet” by Steven Dietz. I have been lucky enough to work with some amazing visionaries who can entice us into the world of a play and leave us touched and breathless. This production of “Cyrano” does just that. Next year we are changing the name from Alternative Stages to Theatre of Intriguing Possibilities or TIPs, which makes it more clear that once you enter our world, anything can happen!

Cyrano and his nose appear on stage at 8 p.m. on May 10, 11, 12, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 13.