“Cyrano de Bergerac” is a tragic love triangle that tells the story of two men, Christian and Cyrano, who are deeply in love with the same woman.

Roxanne is the young woman at the center, and while she appears intelligent, she remains oblivious the whole time.

The play began with utter confusion when 20 actors, most of whom were MSU theatre students, came rushing on set in the midst of different conversations. It took awhile to understand what was going on, but when Cyrano came on stage moments later, it was clear where the focus was.

Theatre professor Mark Colson played the lead character of Cyrano, while acting graduate, Sarah Goeke, played his love interest, Roxanne.

Cyrano is a complex character. He is portrayed as an angry, grumpy soldier who has self-esteem issues because of his deformed nose. He falls in love with his friend Roxanne who sees him as nothing more than a good friend.

One afternoon, Roxanne expresses her love to Cyrano for the good looking but stupid Christian, played by theatre senior Eric Miller.

During one of the beginning acts, Christian makes fun of Cyrano about his large nose. Despite the hurt, Cyrano makes it his mission to become friends to help woo Roxanne. The two men trick Roxanne into thinking Cyrano’s well-written love notes belongs to Christian. A web of deception ensues.

Skip the happy ending — this is a tragedy through and through.

The lead three actors did an excellent job. They emotionally portrayed each of their roles and the characters were believable.

During a more intimate scene, I actually felt my face heating up from embarrassment.

In another scene, a character gets shot during a battle. The room boomed with the sound of the bullet and the audience jumped and some even screamed.

The set, however, was less believable. Throughout the play, the plot takes the audience from a lovely home, to a bakery, to a war camp, a battlefield and a convent. Despite the number of different settings, the production crew did little to make them feel real.

The only set pieces were a large broken staircase, a fireplace and a stack of old chairs piled up against the wall. Throughout the acts, various stage props, such as tables, were brought out but the main background remained, which seemed odd.

Even though the actors gave a stellar performance, it was difficult to imagine a war when the huge staircase was blatantly in the background.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” was a three-hour production, which is an extremely long time to watch one story pan out. However, during the performance, I was enthralled in the story. Unlike other experiences watching plays, I didn’t check the time to see when the performance would end.

The performance triggers a wide range of emotions while keeping the viewer captivated. For that, it earns four stars.