© Axbridge Community Theatre 2009
Artwork by Cathy Plummer
This is what the press had to say about our production of Neil Simon's 'Rumours'
### Gallery ###
|
Rumours by Neil Simon
another new height for ACT. This quickfire farce concerns the efforts
of eight dinner party guests to spare their host – and themselves –
from scandal.
Act One - The living room of a large house outside London.
8.30 pm on a May evening
Act Two - The same, later that night
The play opens with Ken and Chris, who've found their host, Charley, a Government minister, in his bedroom, unable to speak and with a bullet wound in his ear lobe. His wife and the domestic helpers are nowhere to be seen and uncooked ingredients for the evening meal have been mysteriously left languishing in the kitchen.
As the first act unfolds two other guests, who have been injured slightly in a car crash, arrive. They are joined by two other couples who appear to have their own problems.
After a second, accidental gunshot the police turn up and one of the guests, hoping to spare Charley from embarrassment, pretends he is in fact the host. This tangled web leads to a fantastic explanation of all that's happened and a play ending that proves more credible than anyone had dared hope.
Act One - The living room of a large house outside London.
8.30 pm on a May evening
Act Two - The same, later that night
The play opens with Ken and Chris, who've found their host, Charley, a Government minister, in his bedroom, unable to speak and with a bullet wound in his ear lobe. His wife and the domestic helpers are nowhere to be seen and uncooked ingredients for the evening meal have been mysteriously left languishing in the kitchen.
As the first act unfolds two other guests, who have been injured slightly in a car crash, arrive. They are joined by two other couples who appear to have their own problems.
After a second, accidental gunshot the police turn up and one of the guests, hoping to spare Charley from embarrassment, pretends he is in fact the host. This tangled web leads to a fantastic explanation of all that's happened and a play ending that proves more credible than anyone had dared hope.
Cast:
Chris Bevans ...... Sarah Duncan
Ken Bevans ...... Chris Jarman
Claire Cummings ...... Janie Gray
Leonard Cummings ...... David Parkin
Cookie Cusack ...... Wendy Mace
Ernest Cusack ...... Robin Mace
Cassie Cooper ...... Cathy Plummer
Glenn Cooper ...... Tony Wilson
PC Conklin ...... Peter Harding
PC Casey ...... Sue Hughes
Production team
Director John Bailey
Production manager John Kendall
Secretary Janie Gray
Lighting Peter Homewood
Set design David Parkin
Set construction David Parkin and David Moore
Costumes Wendy Mace, Maggie Tur, Jenny Parker, Jane Panter
Make-up Ede Bailey, Carole Hamblin
Hairdressing Mark Harrington
Front of house Liz Welch
Publicity, poster and Janie Gray, Cathy Plummer,
Programme John Kendall, Mike Day, Phil Gray
Exhibition organiser Alex Duncan
Chris Bevans ...... Sarah Duncan
Ken Bevans ...... Chris Jarman
Claire Cummings ...... Janie Gray
Leonard Cummings ...... David Parkin
Cookie Cusack ...... Wendy Mace
Ernest Cusack ...... Robin Mace
Cassie Cooper ...... Cathy Plummer
Glenn Cooper ...... Tony Wilson
PC Conklin ...... Peter Harding
PC Casey ...... Sue Hughes
Production team
Director John Bailey
Production manager John Kendall
Secretary Janie Gray
Lighting Peter Homewood
Set design David Parkin
Set construction David Parkin and David Moore
Costumes Wendy Mace, Maggie Tur, Jenny Parker, Jane Panter
Make-up Ede Bailey, Carole Hamblin
Hairdressing Mark Harrington
Front of house Liz Welch
Publicity, poster and Janie Gray, Cathy Plummer,
Programme John Kendall, Mike Day, Phil Gray
Exhibition organiser Alex Duncan
7:30PM every night - Matinee @ 2PM on Saturday 21st Feb 09.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge our grateful thanks to the following for their valuable help in making this production possible:
Juliet and David Maclay for providing our new venue, and great help in getting it ready.
Alan and Sandy Curry at the Lamb Inn for providing us with rehearsal space.
The Church Rooms for the loan of chairs
Axbridge Chemists, Axbridge Butchers and the Lamb Inn for selling
tickets
The Town Trust and Compton House for allowing us to display banners
Rumours has been produced by special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd.
In the last three years, as well as producing successful home grown dramas ACT has staged admired productions of Dennis Potter’s ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ and J.B. Priestley’s ‘Time and the Conways’.
Our latest venture ‘Rumours’ by Neil Simon seeks to provide a further extension of our development and repertoire. This production forms a pleasing contrast to all that has gone before it. Neil Simon is a sophisticated, witty, contemporary American playwright who has reached the heights with his notable comic dramas both on stage and screen. There is no doubt that ‘Rumours’ is a comedy, but it is also a farce and is therefore marked with a different stamp to the likes of instantly recognisable favourites such as ‘The Odd Couple’ and ‘The Plaza Suite’. Though originally written for Broadway, this play has been adapted for a British audience with British characters and setting. What particularly appeals is the absurd, manic nature of the piece which draws parallels with the classic TV series ‘Fawlty Towers’. We recognise real characters who we might have met and associated with but with a twist - the playwright proceeds to create a crazy world where anything becomes possible and as an audience we are presented with a host of improbable and hilarious situations which develop uncontrollably over the course of one evening - the setting - a dinner party.
‘Rumours’ has presented our talented company of actors with the challenge of a demanding and engaging comic romp which we are sure will delight our audiences for the forthcoming run of performances.