Ken and Chris Gorman are the first guests to arrive at a dinner party, thrown by Charlie Brock and his wife, Myra. Chris and Ken have found Charlie, non-fatally shot, knocked out on Valium. Myra is MIA and the cooks are nowhere to be found. The kitchen is empty. Charlie is Deputy Mayor of New York, and Ken has chosen to conceal an attempted suicide, studiously avoiding a scandal. Lenny and Claire Ganz arrive next, emerging from a non-fatal collision, though Lenny probably has whiplash or something. Lenny immediately starts asking questions, when he’s not bitching about his car. This keeps the story moving, of course, as Ken’s preposterous attempts at obfuscation keep us simultaneously amused and anxious. That being said, Lenny obviously enjoys being an obnoxious schmuck, and the first time we see Claire flip him off, we want to cheer.
Other couples keep arriving. Glen and Cassie Cooper. Ernie and Cookie Cusack. A second gunshot is heard. Cookie, a television chef decides to cook for everybody, and Ernie winds up with nasty cut, while helping her. Cassie is convinced that Glen is stepping out on her (infidelity is a recurring theme) and in a frantic moment, accidentally flushes her New Age crystal down the toilet. It’s not long before the cops show up at the front door, throwing this perpetual tailspin into another gear.
Neil Simon was certainly not the first playwright to create farce by way of havoc. The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Curious Savage, Noises Off, Titanic, all come to mind. The beauty of Rumors is the character development, intelligent strategy, marvelous timing, and creation of actual content. Each couple in Rumors has their particular dynamic, established early, each making their contribution to the insanity. Too often, playwrights seem to think that if they keep the hilarity going, non-stop; well, something’s got to stick. Yet, it’s easy enough to grasp that the closer we keep to the plausible, the funnier it actually is. Some playwrights feed us a boisterous, sumptuous meal. Some dump the food in our laps.
Director Janette Oswald must be a force of nature. Armed with a bold, fizzy, flexible cast (with excellent comedy chops) Ms. Oswald orchestrates this splendid chaos with confidence and meticulous realization. She has taken on the overwhelming task of bringing clarity to a universe under siege. Wrestle polar bears? Why not? Dive into a volcano? Did it last week. Rumors was a tonic in these unsettling days, smart and giddy and wielding the punchline of the Yiddish Proverb: Man plans. God laughs. Even if it’s something as simple as a dinner party.
Allen’s Community Theatre presented Rumors: November 19th-December 11th, 2021. 1210 East Main Street, # 300, Allen, Texas 75002. (844) 822-8849