Rumors - American International School - Riyadh

Rumors
by neil simon
March 8 & 9 from 7 to 9 PM
American International School - Riyadh

Chris Gorman
Anggrieta Sukanto is sixteen years old. She
has been actively involved in productions at
AIS-R. She debuted as a dancer in The Cherry
Orchard in 2008. Following this she played
the role of Patty Simcox in the 2009 musical,
Grease. In last year’s spring production, Are
Teachers Human she played the role of
Dolores Stone and this year played the lead
role of Cindy in Chaos: One Act Plays 2010,
Cinderella: The 2010 Remix. In Rumors she
opens the play with her equally-hysterical husband, Ken, as a wound-up,
upper-class socialite preoccupied with trying to conceal a potential scandal.
Ken Gorman
Evan Combs is sixteen years old. He debuted
on the AIS-R stage as the detective, Donald
Donaldson in Death of a Shrink at Chaos:
One Act Plays 2010. In Rumors, he plays the
energetic, frenzied role of Ken Gorman, intent
on preserving his reputation and “dumb-down”
the potential for a public fuss.

Claire Ganz
Nadine Ghattas has loved theatre since
elementary school. She played Amanda in
a play called Burned, which was performed
during AIS-R’s Day with the Arts. This year,
she was one of the three directors for Chaos:
One Act Plays 2010, which which performed
in December. After a long process of directing,
Nadine decided she wanted to be acting instead
of being behind the scenes, which is why she auditioned for Rumors.
Lenny Ganz
Raed Alsemari is thrilled to be taking his
final AIS-R bow as Lenny in Neil Simon’s
Rumors. Ever since making his theater debut
as Simeonov Pischin in Anton Chekhov’s The
Cherry Orchard (2008), the seventeen-yearold
has performed as Vince Fontaine in the
musical Grease (2009), Dan ‘Irrelevant’ in the
one-act play Blind Date (2009) and a collection
of monologues and dialogues in school assemblies and events. He also
contributed as a director for Grease and both the 2009 and 2010 One Act
Plays (In Praise of Lost Causes and Chaos). Two of his original plays, Blind
Date and Death of a Shrink, have been staged in AIS-R. Raed considers the
role of Lenny his greatest stage talent yet and hopes that the audience enjoy
watching the character’s theatrics as much as he has performing them.

Cookie Cusack
Beatrice Christafaro is seventeen years
old. She was part of six drama productions
in elementary and middle School. In AIS-R,
she has worked backstage for Are Teachers
Human and she played Tania in Cinderella:
The 2010 Remix at Chaos: One Act Plays
2010. In Rumors, Beatrice has the part of the
sweet, naïve, Cookie Cusack.
Ernie Cusack
Colin Doig is seventeen years old. He has
starred in five previous productions at AIS-R.
Such productions include roles as Banzai in
The Lion King, Doody in Grease and a nerd at
In Praise of Lost Causes: One Act Plays 2009.
He played Edward Fowler in Are Teachers
Human and a robber during Chaos: One Act
Plays 2010. He also helped out as a stagehand
for the production of The Cherry Orchard. He
is currently playing the annoying psychiatrist,
Ernie Cusack in Rumors and plans to continue acting in the future.

Cassie Cooper
Lauren O’Neil is sixteen years old. Her most
recent experience with acting at AIS-R has been
with Chaos: One Act Plays 2010. She played
the narrator in Cinderella: The 2010 Remix,
which she really enjoyed. She is currently
playing the role of Cassie Cooper in Rumors.
Naturally being such a composed person has
made the angry, worked-up role of Cassie by
far the most difficult she has ever played, but
she has enjoyed the challenge.
Glenn Cooper
Tobias Stephenson is seventeen years old.
He has been a part of many school productions.
His most recent acting experience was as Oscar
Clive Davis, a character with OCD, in Death of
a Shrink at Chaos: One Act Plays 2010.
Officer Welch
Maaz Malik is fourteen years old and will be playing the role of Officer
Welch. This is his first high school production. As a freshman, he has shown
commitment and enthusiasm towards
this spring play.
Officer Pudney
Ibrahim Nakhal is sixteen years old and
has had a hand in three productions: as
a stage hand for The Lion King, as the
store owner Will in Bad Romance: The
Musical at Chaos: One Act Plays 2010,
and is currently playing the role of Officer Pudney, the dorky policeman who
strives for his superior’s attention in Rumors.

The Director’s Note
A few couples arrive at the 10 th wedding anniversary of a prominent social
couple, only to find that the host has been shot in the earlobe, and the hostess,
butler and cook are all missing in action. Before they know it, they are in the
midst of a zany series of twisted rumors, lies, disaster and deceit as they try
to unravel the hilarious events of the evening!
Directing is certainly one of my greatest passions and it has been so rewarding
working with this dynamic cast.
To the cast and crew- I am incredibly grateful to you for your commitment to
the production from start to finish, amidst inadvertent stumbling blocks along
the way. We have certainly shared more laughter than trials in the process
which has made working with you a pleasure! I do hope you, too, have had as
much of a fun, memorable experience as I have. In the beginning you were

ut “seeds” in the gardening process of the play, but I can honestly say that
I am incredibly proud of the complementary “bouquet” you have blossomed
into as an ensemble. Rumors you say Well, these words are in fact, “straight
from the horse’s mouth” and must, therefore, be true!
My final wish for you (the audience) this evening comes from an old Irish
blessing:
“May you leave here with a smile on your lips and laughter in your heart!”
Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to
introduce to you, this year’s Spring Play. Sit back, relax, and enjoy an evening
of ridiculous, silly, over-the-top behavior in… Rumors!
Mrs. Claire Morris
The Director

Production team
Director
Mrs. Claire Morris
Graphic Design
Michelle Bullough
Assistant Director
Raed Alsemari
Videography
Mr. Bruce Doig
Producer
Stage Manager
Menna Bekheit
Aref Sleiman
Ticketing &
Concessions
Mrs. Nidal AlMoumen
Props Manager
Sarah Elsouri
Stage Hands
Hair & Makeup
Sound &
Lighting
Set Design
Set
Construction
Set Painting
Othman Abuzied
Yasmine Ansari
Jad Faraj
Rami Sabayon
Liyana Fitzgerald
Kyla van den Heever
Mr. Andrew Kintanar
Natalie Wyburn
Mrs. Claire Morris
Mr. Narong
Keatprichar
Mr. Narong
Keatprichar and his
team
Mrs. Noeleen Curran
Maha Ahmed
Isabella Curran
Katelyn McMillan
Anushkay Raza
Dinar Sukanto
Erica West
Renata Wilson
special thanks
Dr. Brian Matthews
Mr. Daniel Gordon
Mr. Ben Keeley
Mr. Armando Henry
AIS-R facilities crew
Mrs. Mannig Keleshian
Ms. Heidi Jensen
Mr. Victor Llapitan
Mr. Justin Morris
Mr. Stephen Raatz
Ms. Jo Denley
and everyone else who made
this production possible!