Episode 246: CYRANO RE- LISTEN

Persistent and Nasty

In this RE-LISTEN episode Elaine chats with actor, writer, director Virginia Gay. We talk about Virginia’s Fringe First award winning show Cyrano. We talk talking old stories and bringing them to new audiences without repeating the same story but bringing a fresh perspective to it and how vital that is for us all. We talk about the wonderful tool that is comedy that let’s us reach our audience in an authentic and truly moving way. We chat the joy of theatre, words, life, queer love and so, so much more. Cyrano is on now at the Park Theatre London 11th December 2024 -11th January 2025 - Tickets: parktheatre.co.uk/event/cyrano/ CYRANO Virginia Gay’s joyous, gender-flipped retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, packed with music, wit and aching romance, is a love letter to hope; to language and desire; to the irrepressible magic of theatre. A big-hearted, irreverent rom-com, perfect for a feel good Christmas treat. Cyrano is the most interesting person in any room – a wordsmith, a charmer. She works twice as hard and runs twice as fast as the pretty boys, because she’s deeply ashamed of something about herself. Enter Roxanne: brilliant and beautiful, with a penchant for poetry and a way with words, just like Cyrano. But Roxanne only has eyes for Yan: hot, manly Yan; all brawn-and-no-brains Yan; who is dumbstruck around Roxanne. Probably shy, right? Until suddenly he starts saying the most amazing things. But it’s not Yan writing these perfect love scenes, it’s Cyrano … Virginia Gay “Virginia Gay graduated WAAPA, then spent four years pretending to be a nurse on All Saints, six months pretending to be cop on Savage River (ABC), and then five years on Winners & Losers, where she pretended to know a lot about high finance. That last one, particularly, was a stretch. She won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress for Calamity Jane, starred in the film Judy & Punch which premiered at Sundance, and wrote and directed her first short film Paper Cut, which made Tropfest finals. In 2020 she wrote two new plays: an adaptation of Cyrano for MTC and The Boomkak Panto for Belvoir, which premiered December 2021. She starred in both and also co-directed The Boomkak Panto.” OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE