Scene 1. I. intro­duces the set­ting of the Hotel de Bour­gogne in 1640, where the the­ater comes alive with antic­i­pa­tion for the evening’s per­for­mance. The venue, resem­bling a ten­nis court adapt­ed for dra­mat­ic pre­sen­ta­tions, cre­ates a unique, almost impro­vised ambiance. The space itself is dim­ly lit, with an oblong shape that hints at the artis­tic and chaot­ic ener­gy with­in, while roy­al emblems adorn the stage, pro­vid­ing a hint of grandeur to the hum­ble set­ting. The pit area, notably lack­ing chairs, adds to the infor­mal yet charged atmos­phere, where the audience’s inter­ac­tion with the per­for­mance is not con­fined by the rigid expec­ta­tions of more for­mal the­aters. A col­lec­tion of lus­ters is about to be lit, adding to the sense of spec­ta­cle and build­ing excite­ment as the the­ater pre­pares for the evening’s show. As the cur­tain ris­es, the crowd begins to pour in, bring­ing with them a vibrant mix of per­son­al­i­ties. Among them, troop­ers make their entrance with author­i­ta­tive flair, assert­ing their right to free entry due to their mil­i­tary affil­i­a­tions, while burghers, lack­eys, and pages fill the room with ani­mat­ed chat­ter and live­ly dis­cus­sions.

The the­ater becomes a micro­cosm of 17th-cen­tu­ry French soci­ety, where peo­ple from var­i­ous walks of life con­verge in a shared space, each with their own rea­sons for being there. Some engage in fenc­ing, show­cas­ing their phys­i­cal prowess and com­pet­i­tive spir­it, while oth­ers par­take in card games, shed­ding the for­mal­i­ties of rank and title for a few moments of light­heart­ed enter­tain­ment. The atmos­phere is thick with antic­i­pa­tion, as the audi­ence eager­ly awaits the start of La Clorise, a play that promis­es to enter­tain and intrigue. The play­ful ener­gy of the crowd is punc­tu­at­ed by small moments of mis­chief and humor—guardsmen chas­ing after fleet­ing roman­tic pur­suits, pick­pock­ets exchang­ing secrets with their appren­tices, and pages test­ing the bound­aries of author­i­ty. These play­ful antics reveal the con­trast between the for­mal­i­ty of the the­ater’s set­ting and the live­ly, unpre­dictable nature of the peo­ple in atten­dance. The scene paints a pic­ture of the the­ater as a place where soci­etal bound­aries are momen­tar­i­ly sus­pend­ed, and indi­vid­u­als can indulge in their desires for excite­ment, con­nec­tion, and diver­sion from their every­day lives.

As the crowd set­tles into the the­ater, a sense of com­mu­ni­ty and rev­el­ry per­vades the air. The audi­ence, rang­ing from the aris­to­crat­ic elite to the more hum­ble cit­i­zens, all gath­er under the same roof to expe­ri­ence the dra­ma that is about to unfold. Promi­nent names like Rotrou and Corneille, well-known play­wrights of the time, echo through the dis­cus­sions of the the­ater­go­ers, serv­ing as a reminder of the cul­tur­al weight that the venue holds. The Hotel de Bour­gogne, with its long his­to­ry of host­ing sig­nif­i­cant the­atri­cal per­for­mances, acts as both a phys­i­cal and sym­bol­ic space for the intel­lec­tu­al and artis­tic heart of Paris. It is not mere­ly a place to view a play, but a place where the arts, cul­ture, and the social fab­ric of soci­ety inter­twine. As the antic­i­pa­tion for Mas­ter Balt­haz­ar Baro’s Clorise builds, the audience’s ener­gy grows, aware that the night ahead holds more than just enter­tain­ment. For the patrons of the the­ater, this evening will be a shared expe­ri­ence, one that con­nects them to a deep­er cul­tur­al his­to­ry, remind­ing them of the pow­er that the­ater holds in shap­ing soci­etal con­ver­sa­tions and ideals.

The stage is set for more than just the dra­ma on the stage—it’s an event that encap­su­lates the human expe­ri­ence. The diverse crowd, full of dis­tinct moti­va­tions, comes togeth­er to engage in the spec­ta­cle, each per­son with their own emo­tion­al stakes in the night. The com­plex inter­ac­tions with­in the the­ater not only set the tone for the play but for the explo­ration of iden­ti­ty, class, and ambi­tion that will unfold. Cyrano’s future inter­ac­tions with these char­ac­ters, par­tic­u­lar­ly the ones intro­duced in this bustling set­ting, will high­light the ten­sions between per­son­al hon­or, love, and soci­etal expec­ta­tions. The theater’s atmos­phere is dynam­ic, its ener­gy alter­nat­ing between humor, excite­ment, and ten­sion, reflect­ing the mul­ti­fac­eted nature of human desires and inter­ac­tions. Through these vibrant and col­or­ful exchanges, the play delves into themes of iden­ti­ty and pur­pose, explor­ing the roles that indi­vid­u­als play in both pub­lic and pri­vate spheres. These inter­ac­tions with­in the the­ater are an essen­tial part of the larg­er nar­ra­tive, set­ting the stage for the unfold­ing dra­ma of Cyra­no de Berg­er­ac.