Rumours

This was my first time to Salterton Drama Club and the Salterton Playhouse, but the group has a significant reputation in the South West for their high standards. After the pressure of that introduction(!), let me immediately say that I was not disappointed. I understand that Rumours is a special play for this group as was first play performed to each other on-line as part of lock-down.

I do usually like to set some context for the play to confirm my own understanding of what I am reporting on. Rumours is a farce by Pulitzer-Prize winning American Comedic Playwright Neil Simon. Though perhaps most famous for Comedy Dramas such as Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Odd Couple, Lost in Yonkers and The Goodbye Girl, Rumours, written in 1988 was Simon’s first attempt at a full farce. Though his style of comedy is often described as traditional, Simon has always been a playwright to experiment and take risks. When deciding to write Rumours, Simon was going through a difficult time personally and work for him, in his own words, was a cathartic process. Simon’s work is usually comedy based around situational and verbal humour, rapid-fire jokes and wise-cracks, often in domestic settings and the struggles of marital difficulties and fading love – and Rumours is no different here.

Farce itself is an often-maligned form of comedy that relies on exaggerated, improbable or ridiculous situations to entertain an audience.  It is typically marked by physical humour, absurdity, satire or parody, improbable scenarios, misunderstandings and broadly stylised characters and performances. It usually has a single, specific location where all events occur in real-time and that is episodic in nature.

Rumours, like most farce is difficult to summarise but focusses around a 10th Wedding Anniversary dinner party that 5 well-to do couples attend, though we never see the hosts - Deputy Mayor Charley Brock or his wife. As the other couples arrive, the guest spread rumours amongst themselves (hence the show’s title) as to what has happened to the hosts and how one has a gunshot wound to his earlobe and the other has disappeared completely. It culminates in an elaborate false story by one character (Len) to the police involving gunshots, a fleeing cook and other cast injuries, which the guest reluctantly adopt as a cover-up in order to protect Charley’s reputation (a suspected failed suicide attempt) – highlighting the absurdity of lies and gossip.  

Set and Staging: The programme notes indicated a setting in the 1990s. The set was not visible until the curtains were opened and it quite rightly received a round of applause as it was presented.  The interior of the 1990s middle-class house was on two levels and incredibly detailed. The front of the stage SL was a dining area, with an enormous oval table and chairs, including a 1980s music system (used for the party), a drinks trolley (used all the time!), period lamp, classy drapes and a door into the kitchen. SR was a living room area, with Settee, an incredible fireplace and mirror, with a UPVC glassed front door and a door to an off-stage toilet (also well used!)  Central was a set of stairs to an upstairs landing area, with two bedroom doors and a continuing corridor heading off-stage left. The quality of the detail was impressive, right down to the coving and period wall lights, The upper level was not full-height due to the constraints of the venue but worked very well – only on a couple of occasions could I sense the scripted staging was higher up.  Even with a large and detailed set, very good use of the space was made. Proceedings did not feel cramped or crowded, and movements were choreographed expertly to prevent any masking. Really well done here.

Properties:  These too were all very well-done and of the period. They were very detailed and had some lovely touches – the party balloons and ‘Happy Anniversary’ banner on the stairs, the crockery for dinner scene, the music centre and the wall-mounted trim telephone. The bandages for Earnest’s burnt fingers were excellent and maximised the comedy.

Lighting: There was excellent coverage across the stage providing consistent levels - so constant that the main lighting wasn’t really a feature after that. This appeared to be quite deliberate and part of the feature of this and farce in general.  The lighting effect for the car headlights coming onto the drive through the glass of the front door worked brilliantly.

Sound: The 10 actors were not amplified as far as I could tell as the stage and the venue did not require it and the quality of their personal voice projections.  The sound effects used were well-cued and of a good standard – particularly the gun shot, the telephone and the party music. The police radio noises were excellent and very funny due to the sped-up voice at the other end we couldn’t decipher and generated much audience amusement. The off-stage kitchen crash sounded deliberately real and was a good option selection. Appropriate incidental music of the period was used and opening acts with the 1990s classics of Annie Lennox’s Walking on Broken Glass and Simply Red’s Something Got Me Started, was a nice touch of detail.

Costumes: In farce, even the clothes act as a counterpoint to the chaos that follows. Costume is not one of my main areas of expertise but I thought they very excellent. The Men’s dress suits seemed of the period, fitted them each well and suited their characters. The Ladies’ dresses and matched their characters, the period and their roles too – a nice floaty type dress for Chis for example, Cookie’s mother’s traditional dress was suitably hilarious and Cassie’s Red Dress was a visual message of her personality and the drama to come. This was all supported with sufficient and suitable detail with the jewellery. The police uniforms worked well and seemed of the period too. Hair and make-up were good also and matched the time and the characters too. The blood application was well-managed, though some under Glen’s nose may have added to the effect too.

Direction: For farce to be successful, it needs high-energy, precision and to be physically demanding, where actors treat the absurd events (including multiple doors, mistaken identities and escalating stakes) with absolute seriousness.  This production achieved all of this and was very slick, with great comic timing and pacy, accurate delivery. People were genuinely laughing out-loud and long, which is an excellent sign of a successful farce. You never under-estimated the intelligence of your audience with how events were presented – another key feature of a successful farce. Very well done.

Characters: In farce, characters need to be truthful and recognisable. For Neil Simon, his comedies tend to be based around imperfect, unheroic figures, who are likeable and identifiable as decent human beings with a compassion for others. In Rumours this applies to most of the characters as this is a real ensemble piece – written to give something to everyone.   The cast overall worked brilliantly together. It had speed and accuracy, with hardly a pause or hesitation and true conviction in the chaos that was proceeding – no easy feat.

Ken (Leigh). The opening character in a farce is a big responsibility as they really set the tone for the production, which you did with real conviction. You had excellent comic timing, which worked particularly well in the scenes when you were deaf after the gunshot. Great work.

Chris (Sarah).  Chris feels like almost the straight character in the proceedings, (with a particular dedication to the drinks trolley!)  and she doesn’t always get the best lines, but you played the part very well. You formed a believable relationship with Ken. Well done!

Len (Tim). You dominated proceedings from your arrival on stage after your car accident, both verbally and physically.  This is a peach of a part and you had a great delivery of your lines, with impressive comic timing. Your speech at the end of the production to the policeman was exceptional and quite rightly received its own round of applause.  An excellent performance.

Claire (Claire). You built and maintained this part really well as a foil to Len, who is smarter than she is given credit for. This was particularly through a series of one-liners, which you delivered expertly and required serious concentration - though you always looked completely in character.  Impressively done.

Ernest (Phil). As the Therapist this is a terrific part that you maximised every ounce of humour from. Your choice of voice fitted the character so well and you demonstrated some great visual humour with the finger bandages. Your actions in lifting the telephone receiver with them will live long in the memory! Very well done.

Cookie (Lydia). You are a comedy natural, from your variety of facial expressions to your physical humour with the bad back and the running gag with the names beginning with ‘C’ or rhyming with ‘en’. You never let an opportunity or comedy moment on stage go. Congratulations.

Glen (Ed). You played the prospective MP with suitable pomposity, sufficiently up himself and overly concerned with status and reflection to maximise the humour from the situation.  Great sparing with wife Cassie created a dynamic and entertaining relationship.  Nicely done.

Cassie (Jo). A great part to make the best of – you created a lovely, volatile relationship with Glen which was great fun to watch. You ramped the character up and down to great effect. Some great flirting too, creating some great comedy moments, with Ernest in particular. Well done.

Officer Conklin (Richard). A delightful cameo role, in addition to your Set Building and Stage Management roles. You made the most of those typically sarcastic police lines and eventually embraced the absurdity, though investigating a completely different issue (a car accident) and ending up accepting Len’s ridiculous story, allowing the guests to escape the consequences of their actions – as farce requires.

WPC Casey (George) – great support and concentration on the action, with some terrific facial expressions on proceedings.

Overall, this was a delightful evening’s entertainment and well worth the 230 mile round trip for me!   Thank you for the invitation. This was a hilarious and entertaining production that left the audience happy, as well as exploring how rumours can spin out of control and how people go to extreme lengths to protect their reputations. Lovely work and I wish you every success with your future productions.

PLEASE NOTE:

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance and it is inevitable that his assessment will be effected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances, and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

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