The Spaulding Drama Club rehearses for their upcoming performances of Fools. Pictured (L-R): Alex Arguin (Leon), Zoe Atkins (Sophia), Christopher Toborg (Dr. Zubritsky), Parker Nolan (Count Yousekevitch).
By Aaron Retherford
We haven’t quite hit the November doldrums yet, but the Spaulding High School Drama Club is about to put on a performance that will bring a smile to attendees’ faces.
At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the Spaulding High School Auditorium, the drama club will perform Neil Simon’s Fools, a comic fable set in the small village of Kulyenchikov.
“It’s pretty lighthearted but it has a sweet message with it,” Sue Brennan, Drama Club Production Manager, said. “It’s definitely family-friendly. I’ll bring my kids to it for sure, and they will enjoy it because it’s silly.”
Leon Steponovitch Tolchinsky (played by Alex Arguin), the greatest young teacher in Russia, arrives in the village in order to teach the daughter of a local doctor. However, he quickly learns there is a curse on the village, leaving everyone incredibly stupid. When Leon falls in love with his student, Sophia Zubritsky, (played by Zoe Atkins) he realizes he must break the curse in order to be with her.
Brennan, in her 10th year at SHS, said she and the other two drama club advisors — along with input from student director Chloe Lamphere — decided on the play. They wanted to make sure the play fits the students’ talents and offers enough roles to get plenty of kids on stage. Brennan said there is a cast of about 35 students for this play.
Brennan expects attendees to thoroughly enjoy the play, which the drama club has been working on since mid-September.
“I think it will be a fun night of theater. It’s a colorful cast, it’s a colorful show,” she said. “It will relieve the November doldrums that we’re approaching. It’s just going to be a good time. The kids have been working hard, and they’re doing what they do best. I think it will be a fun evening for everybody.”
Tickets are $10/adults, $7/students and seniors, $5/children and are available at the door.
