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ATTLEBORO - Wild and fast-paced hilarity will fill the auditorium at Bishop Feehan High School soon when the school's theater company presents "Rumors" for its fall production, which runs from Friday through Sunday.

The farcical play by Neil Simon has been done at Feehan before with much success, according to longtime theater director Alden Harrison, but presents a challenge this year.

"The challenge this year is that we have a new cast of students that are not as experienced as some of our members in the past," Harrison said. "However they are working extremely hard and grasping and trying to understand their characters."

Timing has also presented a challenge this year, according to Harrison, who says the fall production is being done much sooner than usual due to conflicts with other events at the school. Regardless of the challenges, however, Harrison is expecting to present another successful rendition of "Rumors."

"All in all, the students are doing very well, and I am impressed with their dedication and appreciation for performing arts," Harrison said. He does note, however, that with "Rumors" being an adult play, he has had to change some of the language that would be inappropriate for a high school performance.

Still, he says it is a hilarious script, and he is confident the cast will pull it off successfully.

The play is centered around an evening gone very wrong at a posh suburban residence, where the host and hostess had invited four couples to their 10th anniversary party.

It all begins when the affluent couples gather at the home of their hosts for what they expect to be an elegant dinner party, only to discover that there are no servants, the hostess is missing, and the host, the deputy mayor of New York City, has shot himself through the earlobe.

Things get even more complicated when, given everyone's upper-class status, they decide they need to do everything possible to conceal the evening's events from the local police and the media.

The cover-up gets yet more complicated to boot when the rumors, coming fast and furious, add to the comedic mayhem and the situation gets progressively more difficult to sustain when nobody can remember who has been told what about whom.

Needless to say, the play will offer some interesting scenes, a few of which Harrison says will be particularly humorous. "Although I am confident that the cast will deliver the goods, there are three scenes that stand out at this point," Harrison said.

The scenes that stand out, says Harrison are when Lenny and Claire, played respectively by senior Andrew Payne of North Attleboro and junior Delaney McHugo of Medway, find out that Charlie shot himself; when Cookie, played by senior Alexandra Cronin of Norton, loses her earrings; and when the police arrive and become caught up in the confusion and lies that have permeated the atmosphere.

Janette Boulay can be reached at 508-222-0993. or at janette.boulay@gmail.com.