The characters in the winter theater production of Fools were cursed with stupidity from Monday, February 20th to Saturday. Was Leon Tolchinsky, the main character, able to reverse the curse?
Fools is a comedy written by Neil Simon that was written in 1981. It originally premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theater, located in New York, on April 6, 1981 and ran for 40 shows. The play takes place in 19th century Kulyenchikov, a town in which the villagers have been cursed with stupidity. Leon Steponovich Tolchinsky, a school teacher, has come to the small town to teach Dr. Zubritsky’s daughter, Sophia, and his wife, Lenya. However, the plot thickens when Leon falls in love with Sophia.
The set has been designed to look like a mythical Eastern European village. Members of the tech crew and cast helped to build the set, acquiring skills in construction, carpentry, and painting along the way. It is a big set with Bavarian-esque houses, trying to incorporate Eastern European and Germanic windows and roofs. An important detail is that “because it’s a town filled with idiots, everything’s just a little bit off, like the windows are a little bit cattywampus [and] the doors are just a little bit too short.” Catriona Hynds, Fine Arts Department Chair and Director also added, “There’s a lot of really silly things that are going on.”
Rehearsals ran from Monday through Friday. Although the amount of time each actor has to spend at rehearsal depends on their call time. Lead characters such as the role of Leon will practice between 12 to 13 hours a day. Theo Schulhof ’25, a staff writer in the Scroll and who plays Snetsky the sheep shepard, said that “the rehearsal process is rigorous and extremely rewarding. We start off with a read through, meaning we sit around a table and read our lines to understand the story. Then we block the play, meaning we get the play up on its feet.” After, each actor works on character development, where each individual creates the different quirks and mannerism specific to their characters. Finally, the show enters tech, during which all the lights, sounds, and costumes are added to make the final show.
The lead character Leon will be played by Hawk Okpokwasili ’25. One way he has prepared for the role is by practicing the script with his younger sister. Another, important part of Hawk’s preparation is working to analyze Leon as a character and try to find characteristics that he can relate to. Okpokwasili has noticed that “Leon as a character is very inquisitive, he loves teaching, it excites him, and I think in the play he and his intellect are inspired by love.”
Sophie Petronzio ’25 will be playing Sophia, the doctor’s daughter. This production will be her first Deerfield production. Her character, Sophia Zubritzky, is a young lively girl who is cursed with idiocy. The character is different from herself, so to prepare for the role she watched videos of characters who are similar to Sophia including Giselle from Enchanted and Cinderella. Petronzio sais she is excited “to play such a vibrant character and to highlight her positive characteristics in an entertaining way.”
The production has around 25 actors and features a combination of veteran actors and new faces. Okpokwasili hoped that people are able to come out to support their peers, their hours of hard work and to see a play that “make[s] you smile and laugh.”