The Vanguard Theatre, led by director Ken Zimmerman, has once again delivered a successful show, with seats being sold out for several of the eight nights of performances. Students from all over campus came to watch Neil Simon’s Fools.
In a fractured, fantastical and magical land where flowers are mistaken for fish, where the color yellow doesn’t stick to your fingers and where the purpose of man’s existence is 12, the Vanguard Theatre represents the townspeople of an off-beat, tiny Russian village known as Kulyenchikov.
The story goes that a teacher by the name of Leon Stephonovitch Tolchinsky, played by Eric Brand, a senior Communications major, wanders upon the cursed Russian village of Kulyenchikov. He falls in love with Sophia Zubritsky, played by freshman English major Shelby Frye. Sophia is the daughter of Dr. Zubritsky, played by junior Theatre major Casey Williams, and Lenya Zubritsky, played by senior Theatre major Stephanie Klink.
Although the curse of stupidity has fallen heavily on the poor Zubritsky girl, who just learned how to sit down that week, Leon takes the challenge to teach her something within the next 24 hours so that the curse will be broken, and he can marry his new love.
The townspeople, such as Something Something Snetsky, played by Reuben Kendall, and Gregor Youskevitch, played by senior Communications major John Nicholson add humor to the play by walking on the stage and spewing ridiculous one-liners. Other townspeople include junior Theatre major Cody Jarman, sophomore Theatre major Mark Connell, freshman Secondary Education major Jonathan York and freshman Nursing major Blakely Whited.
Although the majority of the cast has been in past productions, many of the cast are first-time Vanguard performers.
“It has been really exciting. We’re working with a lot of veterans and underclassmen. It’s always scary to put something in an underclassman’s hands, but this is an exceptional group,” Brand said.
Frye, one of the new cast members with Vanguard Theatre, got the lead female role of Sophia Zubritsky.
“I was so surprised to get the role! I almost vomited on the cast sheet,” Frye said.
As the first Vanguard performance in the new and improved Fine Arts Building, the seating is seen as a bit of an adjustment; however, many say the small space is good for both the actors and the audience as it creates a more intimate atmosphere.
“The Little Theatre, for this show, is holding 76 seats. That may change depending on how much space is needed for the stage,” said Karen Johnson, Administrative Assistant for the Fine Arts Department.
One of the major challenges of this performance of Fools was the gap in between the first weekend and second weekend.
“You would think the gap in between performances would affect the performance, but we have been fine-tuning the show for so long that I would wager we could have gone for a much longer period and come back with a decent momentum,” Brand said.
The good news is that it didn’t hold back the cast. Some believe it even helped give the last few performances just the right push.
“The gap made things a bit difficult, but I think that our refresher rehearsal helped, and we pulled through pretty well. I am definitely planning to audition for more Vanguard productions in the future,” Frye said.
Although the gap can be a strain on the actors, it can also be a great experience and can help offer a whole new element.
“It’s good training for the actors, and it gives people on campus a greater degree of choice. So far the actors really like that the house is always full,” said Doug Cook, Chair of the Department of Visual and Theatre Arts and Production Designer.
