Hilltop Players to present “Rumors”

By Natalie Hohn 
Staff Writer 

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Actors rehearse “Rumors” / Photo by Natalie Hohn

The Hilltop Players will be performing the comedy “Rumors” at the end of this month.

“Rumors” by Neil Simon is a play about four couples who are invited to a dinner party by a mutual friend, Charlie Brock, who is celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary. When the first couple gets to the house, Charlie and his wife, Myra, are nowhere to be found. As each couple arrives the story about what happened to Charlie and Myra grows more puzzling.

Each couple has different quirks. The first couple, Ken and Chris Gorman, are both lawyers. Ken is a man who likes to solve problems and Chris is his sidekick. The next couple is Lenny and Claire Ganz. Lenny is a quick-wit and sarcastic and Claire has more of a dry wit. Then come Ernie and Cookie Cusack. Ernie is the eternal analyst. Throughout the play Ernie is the one who tries to maintain a calm collected composure. Cookie, on the other hand, says whatever comes to her mind. The final couple is Glen and Cassie Cooper. Glen, and ambitious man, is running for state senate, and Cassie resents his ambition.

 Like every theater production, there have been difficulties and challenges.

Director of Rumors Bernie Belisle said that timing and pacing are very important factors in conveying the humor in a piece like Rumors, so that is something he is working on with his actors, who are at all different skill levels.

Senior Matthew Wade, assistant director, helps out with the actors, takes notes and largely facilitates warm-ups and cool-downs before and after rehearsal. He also runs rehearsals when Belisle is not available.

Act 1 and Act 2 of the play are quite different. Act 1 is wild with complications, and everyone is trying to cover up the story with rumors and allegations of what actually happened. Act 2 is where everything that happened in Act 1 comes to a head.

Although the mystery of what happened to Charlie and Myra is never quite solved, one character does present an interesting story.

“Rumors” is scheduled for Oct. 23-25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for Bryan College students and $7 for the community.