When Neil Simon’s “Rumors” premiered in 1988 it was unlike anything Simon had ever written. Indeed, it would be unlike anything he would ever write again. The play is Simon’s only farce, which is hard to believe considering his vast body of acclaimed work and that he honed his comedic ch ops early in his career writing one-line zingers and slapstick gags for the likes of Sid Caesar and Jerry Lewis. But why Simon never attempted another farce will become clear after seeing “Rumors,” currently being staged at Blackfriars Theatre through December 28. Simon couldn’t pull it off. Fortunately for anyone who catches the show, the valiant production directed by Brynn Tyzska pulls off fun night at the theater. Audiences will be rewarded with laughs summoned by solid acting and tight timing against the backdrop of an impressive set. The only name on the playbill that falls short is that of Simon. Farce, as a genre, hinges on physical humor, rapid pacing and precise choreography. Those aspects abound in this production. But the keystone of a farce is a complex plot grounded in an improbable situation that becomes knottier with each seemingly rational decision the characters make to remedy their fix. That’s missing here. The plot and the choices the characters make in “Rumors” aren’t improbable. They aren’t even implausible. They’re impossible and, thus, unbelievable. The play opens with a frantic couple scurrying about the lavish home of New York City’s deputy mayor, who remains unseen throughout the show in his bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his earlobe and a Valium overdose. The cast of “Rumors.” PHOTO BY Ron Heerkens Jr. / Goat Factory Media. Meanwhile, there is an impending dinner party with friends to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, but his wife and the household servers are missing and the other guests are expected to arrive any minute. What to do?! Obfuscate and deceive their friends, of course, because . . . wait, why? A convincing reason never presents itself.  The deception multiplies illogically with the arrival of each new couple, all of whom come with or acquire infirmities (back spasms, burnt fingertips, hearing loss, nicotine cravings, whiplash) meant to make the audience laugh, which they do for a while.  The house of cards crumbles in the second act when one of the men, Glenn Cooper (played by Fred Pienkoski with all the self-righteous smugness one wants in a character running for state senate), blurts out: “I find the entire story so hard to believe. It doesn’t make any sense.” His indignation is validating. Simon wrote the bulk of “Rumors” during a difficult period in his life. His daughter’s husband had been killed in an automobile accident and his marriage to his third wife, Diane Lander, was crumbling.  “I really was in the mood to sort of go back and write just out-and-out funny, because it’s what I felt I needed in my own life,” Simon told The New York Times at the time.   The script sets up and knocks down plenty of jokes, with the best lines going to the nouveau riche Claire and Lenny Ganz (played by Laura Feligno and Eklan Singh, respectively). Their performances stand out. Feligno’s playful take on the gossipy socialite is a joy, and Singh earns his laughs as an apoplectic accountant whose whiplash has his head cocked to one side for most of the show. His character draws the lunacy to a dizzying conclusion with a breathless monologue that, on opening night, stopped the show for spontaneous applause. Chris Woodworth as Chris Gorman. PHOTO BY Ron Heerkens Jr / Goat Factory Media. Paul Moukperian and Chris Woodworth are persuasive as the frenetic Gormans, whose irrational desperation to conceal their host’s condition jumpstarts the nonsense, and Ryley St. Rose-Finear and Kathryn Borden deliver good-natured performances as Cassie Cooper and Cookie Cusack. Few actors in town play kerflummoxed as well as Jeff Siuda, and he makes good use of his talents in the role of therapist Ernie Cusack. If there is a quibble with the execution of the show, it is that nearly every cast member enters with such high energy that they leave themselves little room to elevate as the plot — if that’s what it is — thickens. To their credit, though, they maintain the tempo. Anyone buying tickets online is likely to run across a quote from playwright Theresa Rebeck that is displayed prominently on the Blackfriars website and acts as something of a mission statement for the theater: “Somewhere in our DNA we know that stories are out there to help us understand what we’re doing here on this planet.”  Blackfriars elected to stage “Rumors” in response to patrons who told staffers and board members they wanted to laugh more.  Nothing about “Rumors” will help any patron understand what they’re doing here on this planet any more than they’ll understand why the motley crew of characters on stage are doing what they’re doing.  But it will make them laugh.  The post REVIEW | “Rumors” at Blackfriars Theatre is nonsense — but good for a laugh appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture.. ...read more read less