Director makes the most of cast’s talents in farce
Neil Simon’s “Rumors” is pure, unabashed farce, and the cast of Otterbein University’s first production of the season more than does justice to its nonstop verbal and physical comedy.
Four upper-class New York couples who know one another through various charity dinners are assembled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the host and hostess.
Unfortunately, the hostess is missing, and the host — sequestered in a bedroom upstairs — has shot himself in the ear (in what might or might not be a failed suicide attempt) and then proceeded to dose himself to unconsciousness with Valium.
Worse, the servants have absconded for the evening, leaving the guests to fend in the kitchen for themselves.
The first arrivals conceal what has happened from the second — and so on down the line — in a vain attempt to avoid scandal.
Director Melissa Lusher brings out the comic best in each of the performers as well as in the ensemble as a whole, transforming chaos into the skewed precision essential to
successful farce.
Grace Hoover and Ben Folts ground the play as the stalwart first arrivals, with Hoover trying to damp down the hysteria and Folts making the most of the comic potential involved in temporary deafness caused by a second gunshot.
Christopher James Smith rides the most substantial character arc as Lenny, spending the bulk of the first act in a dazed snit about the damage to his new BMW, only to surprise himself — and dazzle the others — with the long leap of imagination expressed in a monologue at the show’s climax.
Lauren DiMario makes the most of the relatively small role of the feisty, suspicious wife of an aspiring state senator, especially in a scene where she reveals a surprisingly intimate relationship with the crystal she totes around to smooth out her aura.
Most noteworthy is Daria Redus as Lenny’s glamorous, supercilious wife, Claire. She can deliver a dry zinger with impeccable timing, and her subtly stunned reactions to the folly surrounding her make her facial expressions worth following.
Dan Gray’s substantial, elegant set makes for some satisfying door slamming, and Julianne D’Errico’s glittery (and in one case, intentionally appalling) costumes add visual appeal.
Simon’s comedy is so solidly constructed and loaded with one-liners that it has, for good reason, become a staple of community theater. It is sheer pleasure to watch what happens when the laughs it typically earns increase exponentially in the hands of a talented director and cast.