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Peer Reviews Rumors
If you run a theatre company and are choosing a play to perform, you really can't go wrong with Neil Simon, arguably America's most popular modern comedic playwright. And the Washington County Actors Community Theatre mostly gets it right in their current production of Rumors, one of Simon's lesser-seen scripts. The story contains one of Simon's more shaky premises, and it does require the audience to suspend disbelief more so than usual, but makes up for it with some very funny moments. It revolves around a dinner party for a couple's anniversary; when the guests arrive, their hosts are nowhere to be found, and neither are the servants. All anyone knows is that the husband has shot himself through the earlobe and is too incoherent to give any details, so speculation (or rumor) runs rampant. There are some interesting characters in the mix, and several of the actors playing them came off very well. Larry Chaney is very funny as Ken Gorman, a very buttoned-up man whose demeanor deteriorates rapidly when he loses his hearing for most of the play after a gun goes off beside his ear. Carrie Chastain is suitably harried has his wife Chris, who deals with the confusion by heavily dosing herself with alcohol. Bryce Blair infuses his performance as stuffy Senator Glenn Cooper with enough humor and bluster to make the role his own (and the red, white & blue tie is a nice touch!). Finally, Daniel Main's energetic turn as the harried and long-suffering Lenny Ganz is exhausting to watch and played out with an amazing sense of comic timing (although the actor's unshaven face seemed a little incongruous with his character's social status). The set (built by the actors over the course of their tech week) is actually quite impressive, with two levels, a stairway, and multiple doors that enabled the production to move quite smoothly. The show is not without its flaws, however. During the performance I attended, the pacing slowed to a crawl several times, which really affected some of the best comedic bits; a door-slammer like this has to really move or it just doesn't work. I also noticed several instances of dropped lines that stopped the action frequently. I have been told that most of the problems were resolved in the following performances, so I'm left with the impression that another week of rehearsal would have made this a stellar production, instead of merely a good one.
Rumors October 2 - 5, 2008 Washington County Actors Community Theatre Starring Bryce Blair, Sally Bledsoe, Wesley Bledsoe, Mark Carter, Larry Chaney, Carrie Chastain, Janie Dickey, Diana Gilstrap, Daniel Main, and Tania Main. Posted October 6, 2008
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