Rumours – Thingwall Community Centre

Under the capable direction of Paul Arends, Thingwall Players excel in their Anglified delivery of one of Neil Simon’s most farcical of plays where the humour comes thick and fast and the only risk of missing a gag is that you’re still in fits of laughter from the previous one.

This 1980’s tale reset to London involves a 10th wedding anniversary party to which the first couple, the Bevans (Charlotte Holguin; Zoran Blackie) arrive only to find the wife and servants missing and the husband doped up on painkillers with a gunshot wound through one of his earlobes.

Desperate to avoid any scandal for the wounded man, who happens to be the assistant deputy minister of finance,  the first couple, both lawyers, try to cover up the incident from the second couple, the Cummings (Kate Mulvihill; Alan Morris) who arrive at the party having just survived a car crash, but they, too, get drawn into the mess, as does the third couple, the Cusack’s, a psychologist (David Griffiths) and his eccentric wife (Victoria Griffiths) and the fourth couple, the Cooper’s, a wannabe politician (Shaun O’Connor) and his argumentative wife (Tara McComb)  until the lies have grown to such an epic proportion by the time police officers Conklin (Angela McComb) and Casey (Samra Uddin) turn up at the house, when it’s less about whodunnit and more how do we get out of it.

You need skilled performers to deliver great farce and all the cast performed strongly with their comedic timing spot on throughout and the physical comedy executed with aplomb, and as hard as it is to feel any empathy for this pompous, self-serving, self-preserving, selfish bunch, they make us laugh so hard for two plus hours that we just do amidst the havoc of mistaken identities and kitchen catastrophes.

Blackie, whose character is rendered temporarily deaf at one point, delivered some priceless facial expressions, whilst Holguin drew laughs as a woman desperately in need of a cigarette to calm her nerves but settling for healthy doses of vodka instead.

The husband-and-wife exchanges between Mulvihill and Morris were hysterically biting, especially Mulvihill’s straight-face comebacks, whilst Morris handled perfectly one of the most ingenious contemporary comedic monologues ever written.

The third couple combine perfectly in every sense to deliver some great slapstick moments with V Griffiths’ tour-de-force back spasms and D Griffiths’ frantic search for something cold in which to plunge his fingers after burning all of them, particular standout moments.

The final couple have the harder task with less material and time to work with, but they make the most of what they’re given with T McComb’s portrayal of a woman scorned seeking revenge and O’Connor shamelessly breaking the fourth wall to enhance his voting appeal with the audience, both believable, funny, and well delivered.

A McComb gets the most lines of two police officers which she delivers in a strong performance whilst Uddin captures perfectly her character’s struggles with police radio.

Carol Golightly’s simple set and costume design reflect the period perfectly and create the perfect space for a lot of action to unfold, with great support from stage manager Catherine Flower and sound & lighting designer Duncan Young, adding the finishing touches.

Thingwall Players is a community theatre based in the Wavertree Garden Suburb in South Liverpool with a history stretching back over seventy years. Further details https://www.facebook.com/ThingwallPlayers/

Rumours performs at Thingwall Community Centre through to 13^th July with performances at 7.30pm. Further details and tickets are available at https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/60058

Reviewer: Mark Davoren

Reviewed: 11^th July 2024

North West End UK Rating: