CENTRAL TO PRESENT NEIL SIMON COMEDY `RUMORS'

An anniversary party goes awry with gun shots and car wrecks, cover-ups and lies stemming from a mysterious rumor.

Cape Girardeau Central High School's Red Dagger is presenting "Rumors," a comedy by Neil Simon, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the school auditorium.

Tickets, available at the door, are $4 for adults and $2 for students.

Director Cynthia Wyatt said the story takes place at a 10-year anniversary for an upper class New York couple.

When the first guests show up, they discover their host has shot himself in the ear lobe and that his wife is missing.

"That couple spends a lot of energy trying to keep that information from the next couple who arrives. But they find out too, and then try to keep it from the next couple," Wyatt said.

"In the midst of all this, they are trying to find out what really happened.

"It's a comedy of errors," she said. "It's a fun show and it's fun to watch." The two-act play runs just under two hours.

Wyatt said comedies can be tough, especially for young actors.

"Comedy is particularly challenging for high school students who are just learning to act. The big thing in comedy is timing," she explained. "I have a very talented group of kids that have been working specifically on their timing."

Rehearsals for the play began six weeks ago.

"The main character is Charlie, and you never see him," Wyatt said. He is upstairs lying down throughout the play.

"The rest of them are equally strong parts," she said. "That is also a good reason to use this play with high school students. They each get quite a bit of experience."

Cast members are Lara Clem, Andrew Trueblood, Kathryn Welch, Chad Reimann, Chris Robertson, Jennifer Martin, Thomas Edwards, Amber Hopkins, Jeremy Welch and Jennie Lukens.

Technical director is Steve Lukens, and student director is Ragan Ward.

The story is set in a renovated Victorian house outside New York City. "It was a challenging set," Wyatt said. "It is a nice older home belonging to a very wealthy couple. The challenge is to build set like this on limited budget."

Patrick's Furniture stepped in to help. The retailer has loaned furniture for the production. "They even brought it for us and pick it up when the show's over," Wyatt said.