The food is waiting, the guests have arrived. All is ready for a dinner party, but where are the hosts? When the curious guests try to figure it out, rumors run rampant.
Written by Neil Simon, the comedy "Rumors" will be presented next week by Centreville High's Drama Department. Showtimes are Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Nov. 14-16, at 7:30 p.m. each night, plus a Saturday, 2 p.m. matinee. Tickets are $5 at the door.
The play is also Centreville's Cappie entrant, and senior Rachel Dolan, who plays one of the party guests, says the audience should love it: "It's so exciting and energetic that, as soon as we start off, we're going to capture the audience and get them involved in it."
It was originally written as a British farce, but now takes place in present-day America. Charley and Myra are celebrating their wedding anniversary and have invited their close friends to a party. Trouble is, Myra never does show up and Charley isn't seen on stage. But he is upstairs, and the audience gets various impressions of what's happened to him.
"There's food on the table, but no one to cook or serve it," said stage manager Michelle Boucher, 17. "When the first couple arrives for the party, they hear a gunshot, and they start trying to find out about it. They discover that Charley's shot himself in the ear, and they go to help him."
The second couple also wonders where their hosts are, but the first couple only says that they're upstairs getting dressed. But they're not satisfied with this answer — especially when they discover towels lying around the bathroom, not hung up, and windows propped open in the kitchen.
Each succeeding couple that arrives has the same questions but — like a bizarre game of "telephone," the answers change with each new arrival. "Later, they hear another gunshot, and one couple is told it's an exploding can of shaving cream," said Boucher. "Another couple is told it's an exploding manhole cover."
Senior Theo Thompson, 17, plays Glen Cooper, a state senate candidate who attends the party with his wife Cassie, senior Ryann Morrow. "We've been having marriage problems because I've been having an affair," said Thompson. "My character is two-faced — nice to everyone else, but rude and violent to his wife. But she's strong and can hold her own."
He says the play's characters are stereotypical, wealthy, upper-class people, and Cooper is stuck-up. But he likes being able to show the two different parts of the senator's personality. Morrow says Cassie "knows she's eye-candy for her husband and she should keep her mouth shut [about him] during his campaign."
But during the party, she starts to unravel. "She's slowly starting to lose it, and she's embarrassed because her friends know about the affair," said Morrow. "I love this role because I like playing characters that are really out there. It's more fun for me because that's the way I am in real life."
She believes the audience will enjoy it because "it's funny, upbeat and moves fast. There's a lot of chaos, and people like to see chaos onstage when it's not happening to them."
Lauren Robinson, 16, plays guest Cookie Cusack. "Me and my husband Ernie are new money, so I'm ditzy and we're trying to fit in," she explained. "I'm a cook on a TV show and, at first, everyone was gonna pitch in and cook the dinner. But then I volunteer to cook it all, myself, and Ernie will serve it because we're trying to please everyone."
Her character also has a back spasm throughout the play, and Cusack uses her affliction to full, comic advantage. "She's fun to play because she's out of it, but full of energy," said Cusack, a junior. "There are lots of laughs in the play, and the audience will get tuned in to the energy of the party scene."
Sophomore Tyler Van Houten, 15, plays Ernie. "He's the most sensible and realistic of the group because he's had to work hard and struggle for his money," he said. "He's an analyst and he's still got a pretty good sense of self. Ernie's one of the more enjoyable characters I've played; I was given a lot of room to do what I want with him. I keep [his emotions] solid throughout the show."
He, too, says "Rumors" will please the crowd. "It's fast-paced — a nice, enjoyable comedy and a fun romp," said Van Houten. "Bam, bam, there's one punchline after another. It's Neil Simon, so all the characters are well-developed and pretty consistent."
Rachel Dolan, 17, plays guest Chris Gorman. She and her husband Ken are the first ones to arrive and find Charley. "We hear the gunshot and try to decide what we're gonna do about it," she said. "Ken is a lawyer, so he looks at it from a legal standpoint. But I'm freaking out because we don't know what's happened. Charley's bleeding, and we can't find his wife."
Dolan says Chris is sarcastic, but very supportive of her husband: "Throughout the first act, she's making up lies to tell people because Ken doesn't want anyone to know what happened to Charley — who's passed out and not talking." She says it's a really exciting play because "we don't know what's going on, and the audience is laughing."
Michael Peterson, 17, plays Ken. "He was the first one there, so he feels a responsibility to control the situation, but he's not very good at it," he said. "He's a good friend, and everything he does is to keep Charley safe so he won't get in trouble with the law."
He says all the cast members play off the show's energy and his character is fun to portray: "I like comedy and lots of movement, and I like Ken's purpose in the play."
Eric St. Peter, 16, plays guest Lenny Ganz. "He gets mad a lot; he's cocky, full of himself and short-tempered," said St. Peter. "He's fun to play because he's emotional. I make big expressions and use different voice levels and gestures."
Senior Andrea Palombella plays his wife Claire. "She's curious, friendly and pretty blunt," she said. "The whole cast is excellent, and their creativity makes us all pull together and feed off of one another."
Meanwhile, Chris Nolan, 17, plays police Officer Welch, questioning the guests about an accident. Lenny's car was hit before the party by a car that was supposed to be an anniversary gift for Charley and Myra — but was then stolen from the dealer's lot before it could be given.
"I don't know anything about Charley or a gunshot, I just know it was his car," said Nolan. "But everyone's getting all nervous and upset because they think I'm there to investigate the [shooting], and they're worrying, 'What am I gonna tell him?'" To learn more about all these mysteries, go see "Rumors," next week, at Centreville High.