Aldersgate Church Community Theater (ACCT) in Alexandria is presenting Neil Simon's "Fools" from Sept. 30 through Oct. 16. Photo Contributed
Aldersgate Church Community Theater (ACCT) is presenting Neil Simon's comic fable, "Fools," from Sept. 30 through Oct. 16. The play is set in the village of Kulyenchikov, Ukraine, during the 19th century, which has been plagued with a curse that leaves its inhabitants stupid. The curse can only be broken if the doctor’s daughter, Sophia, can be educated. A schoolmaster arrives in town believing he has landed a terrific job in an idyllic village. He encounters a vendor, postman, magistrate, butcher and a shepherd — none of whom understand a thing about their jobs. He learns he must break the curse, and promptly falls in love with Sophia. He must accomplish this in 24 hours or else he, too, becomes an idiot.
Director Becky Patton said this tightly written work is an under-rated play that is one of the most frequently performed for community and high school theater groups, generating large amounts of money. "There are a lot of good messages in the show, about how we accept labels without challenging them and what really does matter. But the show uses good, old-fashioned humor (both physical and punny) to provide first-rate entertainment," she said.
Patton added: "This show has some real timing challenges in it — it's not very long, but there are a lot of gags, shtick and twists that need to be lightning quick while still leaving time for audience response."
She first produced and stage managed "Fools" over 30 years ago and she directed it 10 years ago under conditions that were very technically and budget constrained. "The opportunity to direct it in a great space, with fabulous tech support and excellent actors is really a dream come true," she said of Aldersgate tackling it.
Jim Pearson plays the role of Snetsky, the town shepherd, wool merchant, and Philosopher Fool. "His days are filled looking for sheep, enjoying the company of his fellow Merchant Guild members, and crafting aphorisms that show a grain of wisdom beneath a bushel of nonsense," he said.
He said the wordplay of Neil Simon is so wonderfully precise, and the word choice and order are not natural to him. "Working to say the lines as written, then finding Simon Snetsky in them, has been the greatest and most rewarding challenge of this play," he said.
Gil Jones plays the role of Mishkin, the Postman. He said Mishkin has been dumb for 51 years and wanders around the village in ignorant bliss with the sole purpose of delivering the mail. "He has a good heart and is well liked by the village people," he said.
He said the biggest challenge is to understand and learn the mannerisms of the period for the character. "Also, staying in character is always a challenge. The other actors in the production are so talented and play their parts so well that I have to keep my focus on being in the play and not enjoying the play," he said.
Howard Soroos plays the role of the self-important magistrate who declares that "law and order must be preserved." He said: "Maintaining order and any sense of decorum among the daffy villagers proves challenging as he attempts to conduct a solemn wedding ceremony in which every vow or pronouncement seems to lead to an unexpected twist or turn in the proceedings."
He added: “'Fools' is a fun play, and I hope the audience will enjoy the humor of the well-crafted lines by Neil Simon. Apart from the humor, the play does have an important moral which in a way is quite similar to the 'The Emperor’s New Clothes:' Don’t let the beliefs or expectations of others limit your own expectations or judgment. It takes the little boy in the fable or the outside school teacher in the play to point out the truth and help people see the light."
Joyce Tischer plays the role of Yenchna, the vendor who is quite savvy despite being cursed with "stupidity" like the rest of the town. "She is hard-working and is always trying to make money … She is highly curious and determined to succeed in life," she said.
For audience takeaways, she said, "Always to believe in yourself and (don't) allow others to control your thoughts and emotions. This town believed they were stupid, thus acting likewise, but in reality, most characters had depth and intelligence they were not aware of. Thus, don't let others determine who you are; be true to yourself and you will succeed."
Scott Stofko plays the role of Count Youskevich, who is as modest as elephants are small. "He is your classic villain, with a few missing pages torn out of the handbook. A schemer at heart, who will stop at nothing to stop the schoolmaster from tying the knot with doctor's daughter," he said.
"There's a lot of good messages which are relevant to today's society as it was back in olden-day Kulyenchikov. I also think certain individuals have been cursed like the people of Kulyenchikov. Some are definitely more obvious than others," he added.
Karen Toth plays the role of Lenya Zubritsky, whose world revolves around her husband and mainly her daughter. "She subconsciously wants her daughter to have the life that she never had," she said.
She said she generally does musicals, so the lack of singing and dancing was a huge change for her. "I had to find new ways to figure out how to really get into character. More specifically, Lenya is very reactive, so while on stage it takes a lot of watching and building interactions in addition to the lines," she said.
She hopes audiences will see "that not everyone who acts like a fool is really a fool — there's frequently something to be learned or gained from people whom you wouldn't expect to be insightful," she said.
Aldersgate Church Community Theater is presenting Neil Simon's "Fools" from Sept. 30 through Oct. 16. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 and $15. The venue is located at 1301 Collingwood Road, Alexandria, VA 22308. Visit www.acctonline.org.