Charley Brock, the deputy mayor of New York, has been shot in the earlobe. His wife, Myra, is nowhere to be found. Add some confused, upper-class party guests and you have Neil Simon’s “Rumors.”
The NHTI Stage Lynx Drama Club will present the whodunit this weekend in the college’s Sweeney Auditorium.
“It’s a really funny farce,” said Zach Gordan, 18, of Weare. “It’s ridiculous in a good way.”
Gordan plays Officer Welch, a no-nonsense cop who tries to get to the bottom of things. The problem is, no one wants to talk. The partygoers are four well-to-do couples afraid of sullying their reputations. The plot revolves around them trying to cover things up, even though they’re not entirely sure what happened.
The audience never meets Charley and Myra Brock but does get to know their eight pals. Chris and Glen Gorman open the scene. The couple, played by Kiersten Brown and Kyle Kirby, are the first to discover that Charley’s been shot and are subsequently the first to start lying. They eventually tell Lenny and Claire Ganz (Patrick Sawicki and Emily Potoczak) about Charley’s condition.
As other guests arrive, they are brought into the loop. There’s the greasy politician Glenn Cooper (Corey Schofield) and his less-than-virtuous wife, Cassie (Penni Larsen) as well as ditzy cooking show host Cookie Cusak (Katie Chagnon) and her husband, Ernie (Dan Stefanski).
Gordan and Tyler Adabahr round out the 10-person cast. Adabahr plays Officer Pudney, a man of few words. Adabahr, a self-described behind-the-scenes type of guy, is definitely okay with that.
Interestingly, Officer Pudney is the only role who doesn’t play an integral part in the show. Most of the actors have fairly equal stage time and must share what time they do have with the rest of the cast. Yes, there’s the occasional monologue, but the farce’s brightest points are when the characters are engaged in a witty back-and-forth. “Rumors” is very much an ensemble piece, and luckily the NHTI Stage Lynx Drama Club has the perfect amount of chemistry to make the show a hit.
Chagnon said that one of her favorite parts of working on “Rumors” was the way everyone clicked. “We all became friends right away,” she said. “I think that’s a great start for shows in the future.”
Considering that 80 percent of the cast are freshmen, Chagnon could be on to something.
(“Rumors” will be performed in NHTI’s Sweeney Auditorium on Dec. 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. Admission is by donation ($5 expected). For more information, visit nhti.edu or call 271-6484.)
