Review: Rumours

I was excited to watch this play. The publicity wasn't that good, or at least, I don't think it is. The posters of the characters rather put me off, what with their bruised and battered faces. The other posters were average. What attracted me to it, however, was the description. It's synopsis was rather well written, and being a play by the Junior College section of the English Language Drama Debate and Film Society, I wanted to go and support them

Rumours is a farcical play written by Neil Simon, and is set in the deputy mayor of New York City's suburban residence. One by one, four pairs of couples arrive, and with each being the upper class of society, the first couple tries to hide the truth, - that the hostess is missing and that the deputy mayor has been shot through the earlobe - as they could not get any information from the unconscious host, from the second, but they soon find out about the truth, and they in turn try to hide it from the third and fourth couple, resulting in each couple's perceived truth contributing to an unbelievable deception. Soon however, all of them know of the truth, and agree that there is a need to hide the truth from the police until the whole truth is known. The police, however, after arriving from a report that a gunshot was heard in the vicinity, demand to see the host, and the husband of the second couple has no choice but to disguise himself as the mayor and tell an unbelievable story which all the facts fit... only to realise at the end that the story he had spun up could very well have been the truth.

I felt that the acting was rather good, the characters extremely believable. The fast-paced plot of the play, along with the various humorous situations which the characters find themselves in, expected of a farce, made the play rather exciting and interesting to watch, and one can't help being riveted to the stage, even during the more passive moments. However, I felt that the constables were too stiff and wooden, making their interactions rather dull and interesting, though the strength of the other actors manage to save them somewhat. Yet, such a difference in skill is glaring, and one can't help but feel that the acting of the constables could be greatly improved. The set was elaborate and the props maximalist, with the stage looking extremely like a house with the fourth wall removed - there were even stairs and doors - and filled with what one would expect to find in the home of an upper class member of society.

Being a farcical play, one cannot expect there to be really any expect any themes in it, after all, a farce is a comedy where characters are placed in unlikely and improbable situations, the characters themselves usually being two-dimensional and meant to represent certain stereotypes of people, in order to create as much humour as possible. A farce is watched not for its significance and messages, but is instead watched for entertainment value. However, farces, usually relying on misinterpretations and misunderstandings in order to generate humour, can teach us about the importance of communication and considering everything before making a justified decision. All in all, I enjoyed the play very much and would not mind watching it again, though there are some areas where it can be improved.