I recently went to see Cyrano de Bergerac performed at the Papermill Theatre at Todmorden Mills theatre space. I hadn’t seen or was fully familiar with the story or even the event space.
Todmorden Mills is a heritage site set in the Don Valley area of Toronto. It is a complex of historic buildings that were part of a small industrial community in this part of Toronto. On the site today, there are two 19th century millers’ homes, a brewery building, and the Papermill Theater and Gallery. There is also a wildflower reserve with walking trails nearby the site that explore the surrounding natural habitats.
The play was written by Edmond Rostand in 1897 and is a fictionalized story of a real person named Cyrano de Bergerac. It is also responsible for introducing the word “panache” into the English language as the character, Cyrano, was famed for his panache, and the play ends with him saying “My panache.” just before his death
Amicus Productions, a community theatre company, produced the play. As one of my co-workers was acting a couple of the smaller roles and her husband played Cyrano, not only was it great to support my co-worker, it was a fun night watching the play, actors, and the evening with one of my brothers and my aunt.
