The cast of the SHS production of Fools Samantha Rivera, Nick Kovalik, Will Tait, Katie Schuessler and Megan Aviles; back row: Chris DeCrescenzo, Justin Gendron, Andre Vilarinho, Chris Smith and Austin Bult.
The Stratford Drama Society will present Neil Simon’s comedy Fools, in the school’s John F. Kennedy Memorial auditorium on Friday, Nov. 22, and Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m. All tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Call 203-380-6777 ext 1234 or email shstickets@yahoo.com for advance tickets.
The cast of ‘Fools’ in rehearsal, Will Tait, Justin Gendron, Nick Kovalik, Chris Smith (seated), Megan Aviles, Kaitlyn Schuessler (seated), Andre Vilarinho, Chris DeCrescenzo, and Samantha Rivera.
Neil Simon’s comedy tells the story of Leon Tolchinsky, who is ecstatic to be starting at a teaching job in an idyllic Russian hamlet. However, upon arriving in the village, he finds people doing things that can only be described as stupid. It turns out that the town has been cursed with chronic stupidity for 200 years, and Leon’s quest is to break the curse. The catch is, he doesn’t know that if he stays more than 24 hours and fails to break the curse, he too will become cursed with chronic stupidity. To further complicate issues, he has fallen in love with Sophia Zubritsky, who is so cursed with chronic stupidity that she has only recently learned how to sit down.
Chris Smith and Kaitlyn Schuessler rehearse a scene.
In explaining the choice of Fools as the fall production, show director Kathleen Murphy said, “I was looking for something different. I read about 15 comedies over the summer, and this one made me laugh out loud. It just stayed with me, and so here we are. It is also a Neil Simon show, so we hope that will be a draw for the audience even though it’s not one of his more well-known ones.”
The cast of includes: Leon Tolchinksy (The Teacher), Chris Smith; Snetsky (The Sheep Herder), Nick Kovalik; Slovitch (The Butcher), Justin Gendron; Yenchna (The Vendor of Various Wares), Samantha Rivera; Mishkin (The Postmaster), Chris DeCrescenzo; Doctor Zubritsky (Sophia’s Father), Will Tait; Lenya Zubritsky (Sophia’s Mother), Megan Aviles; Sophia Zubritsky (The Student and Love Interest), Kaitlyn Schuessler; Gregor Yousekevitch (The Villain), Austin Bult; and Magistrate (The Bellringer), Andre Vilarinho.
The production is directed by Kathleen Murphy and produced by Jeff Leinen. Costuming is by Susan Barksdale and Nancy Zychek, props by Laura Tallberg, and set design by Rich Tallberg and Mike Rich.