Scene Component Paper - Rumors

1. Play Analysis

Rumors by Neil Simon is a comedic story where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The show centers on an anniversary party where the hosts are either incapacitated or missing completely, leaving the first guests at a loss, and causing them to try to hide the predicament from all the other arriving guests. In addition, each character has their own vice or problem, either in themselves or with their relationship, thus leading to even more snafus at the dinner party. Altogether, the play is one which lets the audience become caught up within the story and enraptured by the hilarious characters and situations.

The show opens on Chis and Ken Gorman, a happily married couple who have just discovered the host, Charley Brock, to have shot himself in his earlobe, leading them to believe it was attempted suicide. In addition, Charley's wife Myra is nowhere to be found, which is increasingly odd for Chris and Ken. Both Gormans try to hold onto themselves; Chris is tempted to start smoking again ("I'm going to have to have a cigarette, Ken." (10)), and Ken is trying to calm himself by focusing on minute details. ("It's all over the room. I don't know why people decorate in white." (10)) To their dismay, more guests arrive, and after a quick squabble between them, Chris answers the door, and finds Claire and Lenny Ganz, close friends of theirs. "We had an accident." (17) Claire remarks, stating their their new car was hit on the way over to the party. Lenny becomes suspicious as to why Charley and Myra aren't present, and Chris attempts to cover it by saying "They're still getting dressed." (19) to which Lenny responds "They're not ready? We had a car accident and we're on time." (19) After some more small talk, Lenny retreats to the restroom, and Chris begins to break down to Claire, however Ken re-enters from upstairs, interrupting them and making sure that Chris doesn't reveal a thing. After some more fast-paced entrances, exits, and small talk, Ken finally reveals to Claire and Lenny what has transpired with their hosts.

All seems to be well, however the geusts keep coming. With the Ganz's help, the Gormans attempt to hide the truth of what's happened between Charley and Myra (and in turn save them from embarassment) from Ernie and Cookie Cusack, an extremely eccentric couple, and Glenn and Cassie Cooper, a couple who is having severe trust issues and adulterous problems. By the end of the first act, everything is going haywire as all of their personalities and issues clash with one another.

Act two begins with all the characters sitting calmly in the living room, the polor opposite from how act one ended. Chris has started smoking again, and is putting out the last bit of her cigarette in the ashtry. It is revealed that Lenny told the Cusacks and the Coopers of the night's events in order to stop the madness going on in the house, and now they are all in this together. The group attempts to piece together what's made Myra leave, in addition to what made Charley try to kill himself.

Just as the group starts to put the pieces together, the police arrive. Everyone panicks and begins putting the blame on one another. "I warned you!" Lenny states "I told you we should have called the police. Now look what's happened, the police came." (88) The police then enter into the living room, stating that they heard reports of a gunshot, and they begin interrogating the partygoers unabashedly. Lenny, taking the reigns of the situation, pretends to be Charley, and makes up a long, drawn out story of how he accidentally shot himself while trying to defend his wife, and how she became stuck in the basement while hiding from who they assumed was a burgular, but was really a cook. The police seem to accept this response, and they leave the house. The play ends with the guests happily rejoicing, and as they are about to head upstairs to ask Charley what really happened, they hear someone knocking on the basement door, yelling "Open the door. Open the door. Let me out!...It's Myra!" (113)


2. Character Arc

In the beginning of the show, Chris is an absolute wreck who is trying to keep it all together. She is very forlorn and worried, and attempts to fall back onto her previous vices. However, as the show progresses, Chris comes into her own and establishes herself as a figurehead of the group. Chris channels all of her fear and worry into a kind of bravery, and she leads the other wives in the group, who are all either preoccupied with their appearance, eccentricities, or romantic situations.

I really find that Chris is an intersting character to play, mainly because her character goes through such a profound change within the show. While the show itself may be a comedy, it is really interesting to see a character completely flip flop in their disposition during the course of a show. In addition, the play takes place in real-time, so this chance is happening to Chris in the span of less than two hours. I find that Chris's character is really intersting in the fact that while she may break down, she still has this huge power within her to take charge and lead a situation.


3 & 4. Scene Break Down & Objectives

I scanned a version of my script with beats and objectives. To view them, simply click on the image.

5. Rehearsal Analysis

Working with Ryan has been such a pleasure for me. From the get-go, I could really tell that he cared about the class, and that he would be a really fun person to work with. Ryan is a very supportive person, and every time one of us flubbed up a line or forgot some blocking, we both knew it was ok and wasn't a big deal.Though our schedules did conflict at times, we were still able to meet and rehearse effectively. I felt that we utilized our rehearsals to their fullest, and really went above and beyond in the rehearsal process.


6. Performance Analysis

I believe that Ryan and I did our performance today to it's fullest. I really enjoyed performing it, and I found new levels within Chris's character that I was happy to show today. We had rehearsed many times before class had actually started, so we were both solid on our blocking and lines. It was the first time we were actually able to use props, like the telepohone, and I was realy glad how it turned out. Altogether I believe that we did great jobs in our roles and in the overall performance of the piece.


7. Short Evaluation

In conclusion, I found this project to be really eye-opening and helpful to my acting abilities. Working on this piece was a challenge for me, especially since I had done it in high school and have previous characterizations in my mind. However, I really enjoyed pushing through what I had originally done and creating something new for myself. I find that Ryan is a great person to work with, and he's truly grown so much as an actor. I feel that we did a great job on our scene.


8. Bibliography

• Simon, Neil. (1990) Rumors. New York: Samuel French.