“Rumors,” a farce by Neil Simon, produced by a director who’s relatively new to the area, comes to the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath the second and third weekends in June.
Tom O’Reilly will be the first to tell you this is not typical Neil Simon. Yes, there’s the usual bantering about among an engaging group of characters, but this show is so fast-paced that Simon actually crafted lines to get the actors off stage periodically so they could catch their breath.
Although this is one of Simon’s lesser-known works, O’Reilly views it as one of his best.
“It was toward the end of his writing career,” O’Reilly says. It was the 28th of 30 plays Simon wrote. In an interview shortly after “Rumors” premiered in 1988, Simon said “I was going through some difficult times. I wanted to work, because work is always a cathartic process for me, and I thought it would be really good just to get into a comedy.” He decided to do an elegant farce, much like the traditional British farce, but set in upper-class America.
“Simon took the British format, but in place of the British socialites, he made them American suburbanites,” O’Reilly said. Simon doubled the usual two-couple cast to four couples, opening the door for a wildly dysfunctional gathering of misfits who often turn on one another.
The play is set in a tastefully appointed townhouse in Sneden’s Landing, where Charlie Brock, the Deputy Mayor of New York, is throwing a tenth anniversary party. Unfortunately, Charlie has taken some valium, and as he starts to fall asleep, he inadvertently shoots himself in his ear lobe.
Meanwhile, as the guests start arriving, the kitchen staff has disappeared, Charlie’s wife, Myra, is nowhere to be found, and the last couple to arrive reveal their dislike for one another by constantly arguing.
Suddenly a gunshot is heard, and a guest runs upstairs to investigate. The cops show up, but all the guests offer confusing and conflicting explanations about what’s been going on.
This is a play which flies at breakneck speed, leaving audiences trying to catch their breath in between laughs.
“It’s just one joke after another,” O’Reilly says.
This will be O’Reilly’s first play at the Chocolate Church, produced by his own production company, the Dramatic Arts Stage Company. As an actor, director, producer and set designer, he has been involved in over 100 productions in the last 45 years. He is an original member of the multi award winning M & D Playhouse in North Conway, N.H. and most recently played a major role in the Chocolate Church’s production of Private Lives. He has a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Maine at Farmington.
The show runs two weekends, 7:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat., June 16 and 17, Fri. and Sat., June 23 and 24, plus 2 p.m. matinees on Sun., June 18 and Sun., June 25. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22 the day of the show. For more information stop by the office at 804 Washington St. or call (207) 442-8455.
Coming up: Sun., June 11, 6 p.m., Erica Brown at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, 243 Washington St.
Paula McKenney is a volunteer at the Chocolate Church and a retired newspaper editor.
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