Rumors aren’t all bad. In fact, they can be downright entertaining – at least when they’re spread in the Neil Simon hit play by the same name.

For three weekends in March, Schoolhouse Arts Center will present “Rumors,” Simon’s sophisticated farce set in an upscale New York City apartment. With its slamming doors, brisk dialogue and frantic gesticulations, this two-act socialite soiree serves up a delicious concoction of fact and fiction, propriety and charade that leaves its audience clamoring for seconds and its party guests both shaken and stirred.

When the first couple arrives at the Brock’s dinner party, they walk into a brewing scandal involving Charley Brock, the deputy mayor of New York. Convinced they must preserve his reputation, the couple tries to cover as the other guests show up.

But in this social set, where gossip and glitz go together like gin and tonic, these decked-out couples cannot resist telling each other the truth, lies or whichever creates the greater sensation. And before the end of act one, these partygoers are reeling with dizzy excitement.

Director Linda Sturdivant, of Standish, guides the clever cast through its manic movements and rapid repartee. Familiar to Schoolhouse audiences for her direction of many past shows, including, “A Christmas Carol,” “Our Town” and “Steel Magnolias,” Sturdivant employs a unique directing method that has actors script-less from the first rehearsal on.

“When you take scripts out of people’s hands they start listening,” she said. “I want to get them using as many senses as they can. The more senses you can involve, the faster people learn.”

To make this idea work, each cast member has a “reader” who sits in the front row. In a soft monotone, the reader gives the actor each line and then the actor repeats the line. Sturdivant, who’s used the method for about 10 years, says this technique has many benefits: it prevents the actors from keeping their heads in their scripts and it encourages them to make eye contact with each other and to pay better attention to their blocking (a stage term for their planned movements on stage).

Since using this system, Sturdivant has seen plays come together faster and cues picked up better. But she acknowledges that some actors take to it more quickly than others. In general, she says the more experienced the actor, the more resistant to the new system.

“If I have someone who has not engaged in it, I say, ‘Go ahead, use your book,'” she said.

Many cast members of “Rumors” are Lakes Region area residents: Gene Zerna, of Raymond; Chip Burnham, of Standish; Sumida Sferes, of Steep Falls; Kate Loukas and Meghan Connell, both of Windham. Other cast members include Rick Kusturin, of Gorham, Keith Halliburton, of Westbrook; Terri Plummer, of Limington; Sharon Bearor, of Gorham and Larry Robinson, of Yarmouth.

Because of adult humor and language, “Rumors” is recommended for mature audiences. The show opens this weekend and runs from March 3 through March 19. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Call 642-3743 for reservations or more information. Same day tickets are also available at the box office one hour before each performance.

Glenn and Cassie Cooper, played by Standish’s Chip Burnham and Windham’s Kate Loukas share a not-so-tender moment during a dinner party debacle in Schoolhouse Arts Centernees.

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