Rumours

Noosa’s latest production – Neil Simon’s Rumours – is a great choice of fare to open their 2025 season. It is the perfect marriage between a company’s artistic fare and its audience demographic.

Smart and classy, slick and funny. An evening about middle-class entitlement and righteous indignation. It doesn’t expose their failings as much as a Williamson but it does give them so much more “meat on the bone” then a Foot or even an Ayckbourne. 

Neil Simon wrote this as Rumors (set in America) and then rewrote it as Rumours and set it in England as a homage to British farce. Did this work? Yes, generally very well. Multiple entrances and exits, multiple comings and goings, mistaken identities etc – at the end of act one the actual stage contained a woman who had wrenched her back, a man who had wrenched his neck, a man who was temporary very hard of hearing and a one man who had burnt his hands. All of these ailments are comedy farce gold – if somewhat two dimensional. But as previously mentioned in this review it was still smart and classy, slick and funny. That is probably because he omitted the classic farce element – sex! No young ingenue who suddenly and plausibly loses her clothes and is forced to wander around half naked for the entire duration. No quick groping or kissing when the significant others weren’t in the room. And that is what I enjoyed the most about this evening – it is definitely a cut above most of the other comedies out there. 

The plot is quite simple. A tenth wedding anniversary party is derailed when the host shoots himself in the ear. Being the Governmental Assistant Deputy Minister of Finance means his best friend panics in case the fall out may be suicide rather than an accident. One thing is for certain – don’t ring the police. As everyone turns up for the party (a collection of high powered, rich, political movers and shakers) they all, for a variety of reasons, join in this conspiracy of silence. Naturally, in full farce fashion, the deeper they dig this conspiracy hole the funnier the play becomes. I really like the fact that you never actually got to meet the host or his wife. Furthermore, you never actually find out how he shot himself. 

Like most comedies of the time, it does take time to warm up. It has to introduce and set up eight characters (four couples) and set up the situation and plot. This takes time. But once achieved it just takes off and flies. It fully engages the audience as it flip flops between delightful whimsy and more biting satire. Either way the laughs just keep on coming.

A functioning set coupled with clear and concise direction gave a great foundation for the marathon the actors embarked on, (very little respite for most of them). Considering this was director Andrew Moon’s first full length play then all bodes well for his future. It certainly wasn’t an easy play or genre to cut your teeth on. However, he was obviously in control of both the play and his cast. He moved it well, naturally and with a clear and concise understanding of the genre. 

And as for the cast – They were a disciplined ensemble but still obviously enjoying this production so much. This is quite infectious as it spills into the audience. I hate singling people out in ensemble work but I thought Oriana Packman (as Chris) was an absolute standout and a pleasure to watch. She nailed that thin line between upper class entitlement and normality. Her character flaws were delightful. Great to see Glen Miller (as Len) add this form of comedy to his already impressive repertoire, Maria Karambelas (as Cookie) milk every line for its total worth, Michael Morgan (as Ernest) anchor down everyone as the voice of reason and normality, Liz Bear (as Claire) ooze class and style all over the stage as the to-the-manor-born matriarch, Robert Boesch (as Ken) grab the full scope of being hard of hearing and ruthlessly exploit it, Ryan Carr as (Glen) be a general toady of the highest political order and finally Lily Parisi (as Cassie) as the highly strung suspicious wife. (First time I’ve seen Ms Parisi. Impressed. Please stay with our coastal theatre). Finally, Jane Rivers and Stephanie Fratter (as The Sergeant and the Constable) whose brief appearance at the end of the play did the impossible – tied everything up!

Costumes – great! Sound and Lights – exactly what they needed to be. 

Drawbacks? It was far too verbose – as were practically all comedies written nearly forty years ago. The script – not the production – needs pruning by about ten minutes. Being the preview night there were the odd hiccups – but that is why you have a preview night, to iron out these bugs, to let the cast take it around the track. Perhaps the most important lesson they all will have learnt from this preview is how the flow can be so easily curtailed unless you are on the ball for every moment. 

In short – this will be a very successful run. One of the few plays I actually want to go and revisit towards the end of the season. Great way to kick off your 2025 season.

Simon Denver

Photo by Christina Rose