Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 21st November 2015
In 1988, at a bad time in his life,
Neil Simon felt the urge to work and to write something different, and so he decided to write a farce. There are two versions, the American one, and this, the British one,
Rumours, spelt with the letter 'u'. Galleon Theatre Group is presenting this South Australian premiere as their final production for 2015, under the direction of Kym Clayton.
Charley and Vivienne, who never actually appear during the play, have reached their tenth wedding anniversary, and have invited four other couples to join them for a celebratory dinner party. The first couple to arrive, Ken and Chris, are already there when the play begins, and are in an agitated state as they have heard a gunshot. The two kitchen staff are nowhere to be found, the hostess is missing, and the host, a prominent government official, is in his room, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the earlobe. They patch him up and give him some sleeping tablets so that he will rest until feeling well enough to join the party and explain what has happened.
Wishing to protect their friend from any unfavourable publicity, they do not yet call the police, deciding to wait until he can tell them what happened. Then, one by one, the other three couples arrive. Len and Claire have been sideswiped by another car, whilst driving their own brand new vehicle, and Len has whiplash. Ernest and Cookie, and shortly after, Glenn and Cassie arrive. Over the course of the first act, elaborate and implausible lies build up, one on another, as an effort is made to keep the events secret from the later arrivals. Eventually, of course, all eight of them are apprised of the situation although, with a copious amount of alcohol having been consumed by a few of them, there is still a lot of confusion.
In the second act, the police arrive and panic ensues, but they are only there about the car accident that Len and Claire had been involved in on the way there. It transpires that the other car was stolen and they simply need a little information. By the time that this has been explained to the group, the officers are suspicious that there is more going on than they are aware of. More lies, subterfuge and panic takes over until, at last, the police are satisfied and leave.
Like any good farce, there are doors, two up on the landing, two on the ground level leading to other parts of the house, and the front door leading outside. Congratulations to the set construction team for ensuring that it barely vibrated under all of the slamming doors. I can't imagine how many French legs and sandbags, and how much bracing was behind the scenes.
Clayton has not left anything to chance, as a quick glance at the at the cast list shows. He has wisely assembled a group of very experienced performers. The first couple to arrive, Ken and Chris Bevans, who are both lawyers, are played by Peter Davies and Anita Canala. Davies combines, in his portrayal of Ken, a frequently peaking level of panic, with the realisation that he must takes charge, and the need maintain secrecy. He hovers carefully on that line between character and caricature, which is where farce generally sits, particularly when the gun accidentally goes off again and leaves him totally deaf, a setup for a lot of laughs. Canala's Chris just wants to be somewhere else, anywhere, and turns to the bottle as things get worse. Canala is amazingly credible as a drunk, and builds up the level of inebriation nicely over time.
Len and Claire Cummings are played by Andrew Clark and Linda Lawson. Clark plays Len with his head locked to one side for a large part of the play, the result of the whiplash for the car crash, which cannot be comfortable, and Len is also the one who seems to be the most put-upon when crises occur. His final machine gun fire speech to the police deserves every bit if the applause that it generates. Claire handles the situation as badly as Chris, and soon keeps her company on the slide into drunkenness. Lawson is no slouch at playing a drunk, either. She and Canala make a very good pairing.
Ernest and Cookie Cusack tend to be able to keep their equilibrium, perhaps because they are called upon to do what is familiar to them. Cookie has her own television cooking programme, so the two busy themselves in the kitchen, preparing the meal from the ingredients left untouched by the missing servants. David Lockwood and Lindy le Cornu balance the relationship of their characters well, giving a convincing performance as a couple who have been together for years and are comfortable, complementing one another in their marriage.
Glenn and Cassie Cooper are the final couple, and they are as volatile as the Cusacks are stable.
John Koch and Leanne Robinson play the Coopers, he suspecting her of having an affair, and her suspecting him of being a serial womaniser. They tend to be more interested in their own arguments and sniping than in the fact that Charie might have been trying to commit suicide. Koch and Robinson keep up their verbal sparring until it spills over into physical violence, some of it taken out on the undamaged part of Len's car, in which she locks herself. Koch's Glenn hovers between denial, accusing, and blustering, while Robinson's Cassie is bipolar, or perhaps even worse, flipping from fury to an emotional wreck in an instant.
It is no wonder that Officer Conklin, Andy Winwood, and his junior, Officer Casey, Ashleigh Merriel, are suspicious that all is not right.
Although they all give great characterisations, the individual performances are only a part of a farce. It can only work with a very strong ensemble, all working together as one, and maintaining an often frantic pace. Clayton has ensured that this is the case, as the laughter throughout and the final applause attested. If you need a laugh to take your mind off of the worst aspects of the oncoming silly season, this could be just what you are looking for. Remember, too, that you can take your own supper to Galleon performances in the Domain Theatre, with drinks available for purchase at the bar (no BYO drinks due to licencing regulations) at the Marion Cultural Centre, so there is an added incentive for you.
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