Rumors

by Neil Simon

Book Overview

Farce / 5m 5f / Int. At a large tastefully appointed Sneden's Landing townhouse the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself. Though only a flesh wound four couples are about to experience a severe attack of Farce. Gathering for their tenth wedding anniversary the host lies bleeding in the other room and his wife is nowhere in sight. His lawyer Ken and wife Chris must get "the story" straight before the other guests arrive. As the confusions...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0573691606
• ISBN13: 9780573691607
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Concord Theatricals
• Length: 100 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A brilliant fast-paced comedy farce

Rumors is a play that is perfect for the stage. It is filled with quick-wit humor, lively action, entertaining real-life dialogue and the plot construction is brilliant. Most of Simon's plays would make a fun movie with colorful characters, and I don't know if a movie version has ever been done. Neil Simon is truly one of the funniest playwrights ever. I have not read anyone else who can match his comedic talent for playwriting. It is a style that his clearly his own. Rumors moves very fast, never a dull moment and is what sticks out for me is the humorous dialogue. It's not one-liners, it's real. The play takes place in New York in a Victorian house in Sneden's Landing. All characters appear to be financially comfortable. The play consists of about 4-5 couples who enter at different stages. The story focuses on a couple, Chris and Ken, in their mid-thirties, who arrive at the home of Charley, deputy mayor of New York, and Myra for their 10th anniversary party. Myra is gone, the Chinese maid is gone, the dinner is thawing out on the table, pasta is in the pot with no water and they discover that Charley shot himself in the head but he has only managed to nick his earlobe. To prevent a scandal, Chris and Ken plot to keep the truth out, rumors of why the attempted suicide begin and the fun starts when the guests start arriving and everyone schemes to cover up the attempted suicide. This is brilliant comedy.....MzRizz

simon's best.

i've read almost all of simon's plays - excluding the musicals, as i feel they won't translate well without the music - and rumors is by far the funniest, snappiest of them all. if i were at a performance, i know i would forget that i was in a theater at the time, just as i got so wrapped up in the play sometimes that i couldn't remember i was reading! a must-read for any simon fan, and a good entry into his work for those who've never read anything he's written.

Hilarious and well written

Comedy is difficult to write, especially a play. Comedic plays (especially farces) must move quickly, or the audience is lost. Humor can get very stale if the situations do not change dramatically. Neil Simon said that Rumors was the hardest play he had to write because every line had to further the plot. I had the privilege of acting in this play, and I say with all sincerity that there is never a dull moment in this play. It is hilarious, with absolutely no redeeming social value. In an age where plays and movies must either be stupid comedies with outlandish plot twists and completely unbelievable characters or have dark humor with a depressing hidden message, it is nice to see a well written, straight forward farce where the jokes never get old, no matter how many times you see it and it is very easy to lose yourself completely when either watching it or acting in it. In Rumors, Neil Simon has written a gem of a play.

I was very entertained with this work.

Mr. Neil Simon does a very skillfull job of creating a play that is very amusing but also shows many of the abilities of the human imagination. I love the ending in which there is no end, but you finish the book or walk out of the theater trying to figure out what happened to Charley, Myra, and the servants; just as the guests have been trying all night. Simon makes us a guest and I love it

One of Simon's very funniest!

Neil Simon at his finest! Great characters, fast-paced, absolutely hilarious. Fun to read, even more fun to perform