De Soto High School students involved in the fall play, Rumors, by Neil Simon, have been working hard to prepare for their performance in November.

The play is about several wealthy couples that attend a dinner party where they arrive at the house in chaos. The guests soon learn that the host has shot himself in the ear and the hostess is missing. Because of their high social status, they try to hide the night’s events from the media and the police. This causes comedic issues and events to arise.

Drama teacher and director Erin Purifoy said the script made her and the actors involved laugh when they read it.

“I figured that if just reading it made me laugh at it, then seeing it in action would be a lot more fun,” she said.

Purifoy said that the cast members are finishing up memorizing their lines and they will be adding in “all of the crazy [actions] that make a comedy fun” soon.

The cast of Rumors is made up mostly of juniors and seniors. Most underclassmen that auditioned got a role in one of the student directed one-act plays from the collection Durang Durang by Christopher Durang.

The seniors in the cast of Rumors include Kathleen Allman, Lindsay Everson, Courtney Goodin, Nick Hall and James Newton. The juniors in the play are Makenzie Hill, Cody Phillips and Maddie Torline. Freshman Erick Sherman is the only underclassman in the play.

Almost everything involved in making the play possible is run by students, including the set and the sound.

Rumors

will be the first show performed using the new sound equipment and stage extension that were added to the Little Theatre over the summer.

There will also be a student costume designer this year who has yet to be selected.

Rumors will be performed on Nov. 8-9 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. but tickets went on sale Oct. 15. Presold tickets are $3 for students, $4 for senior citizens $5 for adults or a dollar more at the door.