"Cyrano de Bergerac", by Edmond Rostand, is the fictionalized story of the 17th century French swordsman, poet, and author. Rostand's hero is a larger-than-life figure of incredible ability, wit, and courage, but because he has an improbably large nose, he believes that no woman would ever love him. Instead of courting the woman he loves, he lends his words and voice to a handsome but tongue-tied soldier who wins her instead. Brian Hooker's English translation, in which Rostand's rhyming couplets are presented as blank verse, is the most well-known translation of the play, and it became the basis for the 1950 film version that won Jose Ferrer the Academy Award. - Summary by Mike Manolakes