Rumours

 

Rumours

Written by Neil Simon

Performed by Exeter Drama Company at Longdown Village Hall

On Friday 27th March 2026

Directed by James Hyde

At its core this is farce with a deceptively simple plot; a group of affluent couples arrive at a dinner party for a 10th wedding anniversary to find their host injured and his wife missing. Both the host and his wife are unseen characters and their guests, instead of reacting rationally, construct increasingly elaborate lies to avoid scandal. Fast-paced and very well acted by all the cast members the audience witnessed a chaotic and playful comedy, absurd at times with miscommunication and escalating panic. A laugh out loud comedy with loads of giggles and as a member of the audience you never knew what would happen next when the car lights appear and the doorbell or telephone rings!

The set, again well-built and designed by EDC, is the living room of Charles’ house, with painted white walls and a staircase set in the rear flat along with a window. The front door of the house was set in the stage right flat, and two doorways with access to a kitchen and WC in the stage left flat. A sofa positioned centre stage plus a table full of bottles and telephone table completed the look.

The director based this story in England instead of a wealthy New York suburb which was a good decision in my opinion as it felt comfortable and had a 1980’s ‘Abigail’s Party’ feel. The four upper-class couples with their well-spoken English accents spiral into a frenzy of cover-ups and lies to protect their unseen host, Charles who seems to have taken Valium and attempted suicide but failed and shot himself in the ear.  We never really know why but it may have something to do with his wife being missing?

We first meet Chris and her husband Ken both strong actors and believable as a couple, bickering a little over the situation. Ken played by Joe has a wonderful stage presence and clear diction (having seen him in other EDC productions) and was excellent in this role as he physically panics running in an out of the staircase to the landing and then shouting orders to Chris when he is deafened by the gun mistakenly going off in his ear.  The actor playing Chris, Elizabeth, looked fabulous in a long gown, hair up, and in total contrast to her panicking husband is calm and controlled as she hits the bar in the house, hard, slowing becoming inebriated throughout the play.  A lovely watchable actor. They concoct various stories as Claire and Len arrive at the party having had a car accident in his new car.

Claire, straight talking and slightly reminiscent of Margo Ledbetter in the Good Life was portrayed by Renara who was fabulous to watch and who relished sarcasm. Len, played by Jack was brilliantly funny throughout especially when pertaining to be Charles to two coppers who turn up. He comes downstairs to "explain everything" and then gets carried away in a terrific monologue, inventing a ludicrous, rambling explanation for everything, culminating in a claim that his wife (Charles wife) is in the basement. So good the audience cheered.

Cookie and Glen Cusack are the next couple to arrive. Cookie’s character is a well-known cook and Ernest a psychologist/psychiatrist. Cookie, played by Gina was, in contrast, nicely earthy compared to the glamourous Chris and Claire, portraying her back spasms with enthusiasm and Jack as Ernest, naïve and endearing, both actors with clear diction and good stage presence.

Finally, Cassie and Glenn turn up arguing incessantly the minute they enter the stage and you can see from their fellow actors, The actors portraying Cassie and Glen’s excellent acting made the others genuinely feel uncomfortable watching them. Chloe was just great as the jealous, distrustful wife, as she outwardly flirts with Len to make Glenn annoyed. Glenn, portrayed by Christian was perfect as the annoyed, domineered husband whose wife embarrassingly declares their marriage problems to the rest. The characters are exaggerated but recognisable: the anxious host, the domineering spouse, the clueless outsider.

The ensemble nature of the play means no single character dominated; instead, the humour emerged from group dynamics and interaction at a relentless pace of dialogue by this cast.

When the two female police officers arrived, the pace calmed a little as it should. Lucy as PC Conkin was just so funny as the nosy copper with a cockney accent and accusing tone as she investigates Len’s car accident and Roxy as PC Casey, who had few lines but had the most expressive face as she listened in. I loved the incoherent police radio created by the sound team which PC Casey interpreted back to her colleague. The clever use of car lights appearing through the window in the rear flat, warned not only the cast but the audience too, of a car arriving plus the added sound of a car on the gravel driveway.

The script was a vehicle for non-stop jokes and needed great comic timing from every character which was delivered by this talented group. James Hyde is a director that has knowledge of comedy and slapstick and paid real attention to detail with this production. Congratulations to all involved.

Lyn Burgoyne

District 5 Noda South West (Mid and East Devon)

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