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Point of 'Fools' is pointless funThere is nothing serious about "Fools," no message, no deeper meaning, no nothing, other than bucketloads of gags and jokes that make the Neil Simon farce one of the silliest couple of hours you'll spend in a theater. And, thank goodness for that, and for Town Hall Theatre's elegantly hilarious production of the rarely done show. Director Sandi Andersen-Tarica and a remarkably skilled cast deliver a textbook example of how farce should be done -- like Chekhov, no matter how dumb or outrageous the lines actually are. And Simon grows 'em pretty dumb here, seemingly going back to his days as a TV comedy writer, when outrageous comedy with absolutely no redeeming qualities other than to create paroxysms of laughter was the rage. The show, set in 1892 in the village of Kulyenchikov, Ukraine, is a fairy tale of sorts, about an evil curse put on the village by a powerful count. Since the curse was cast, every man, woman and child is to be dumber than underachieving dirt until a member of the regal Yousekevitch family marries someone from the Zubritsky clan. Of course, the new schoolteacher, Leon Tolchinsky (John Hale) doesn't realize that when he strolls into the village early one morning to begin his first schoolmaster job. The situation becomes clear, however, as soon as he meets the shepherd Snetsky (Jan Lee Marshall) who not only can't find his sheep, but has somehow forgotten his first name as well. Quickly, the new educator picks up clues that the town is not populated by anyone who might remotely be selected to play "Jeopardy." Magistrate Mishkin (Barry Hanau), who doubles as the mailman, could easily be stopped on his appointed rounds by much less than snow and hail. Yenchna, the vendor (Anna Albanese) hawks flowers in the guise of fish --the fishermen had bad luck, but she figures that's no reason to hurt her business. And Slovitch, the butcher (James Colgan), who tidies things up by sweeping dirt from the street into his store. Still not convinced the entire town is full of fools, Tolchinsky continues searching for Dr. Zubritsky (Louis Graham), the man who hired him to educate his daughter, Sophia (Krista Swager). But when he meets the doc and his wife, Lenya (Susan Warwick), and they decide the answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life?" is 14, the schoolmaster pretty much knows he's in big trouble. But he also knows Krista has beautifully big brown eyes, and realizes it's love at first sight for the young girl, who has finally learned to sit down (an insanely funny sight gag). But Sophia is engaged to the Count Gregor Yousekevitch (Irakli Tabidze), so they can marry and lift the century old curse. It doesn't take a nonresident of Kulyenchikov to figure out how the story finally winds up, but it's huge fun watching it get there. The show, which was not a hit for Simon, is a wild departure from his standard fare and a whole lot of fun when it works well. And it works very well in the Town Hall production. The entire cast is tremendously entertaining, with some outstanding performances by Hale and Swager, who have an excellent chemistry as the love interests. Marshall is enormously funny in the shepherd role and Tabidze is wonderful as the villain, who thinks nothing of appealing his case directly to the audience. Town Hall's "Fools" is enhanced considerably by Barbara Galla's smartly designed costumes and the set by Andersen-Tarica, which is a simple yet effective painted backdrop, flanked by a couple of flats and just enough furniture and props to hint at the various locations. It's a funny, enjoyable show that not only showcases some fine local talent, but gives audiences a chance to see Simon in a considerably different light. |
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