This year the drama department, along with new teacher Corrine Fox chose “Fools” for their fall play performance

On Friday Nov 16, the cast of “Fools” from the Potomac Falls drama department got ready for their opening night. The auditorium was full, and the stage was dark. The crowd was excited to see what Panther Productions had been working on for months. Within minutes of the first line, the crowd was already responding with laughter. It was evident that this production was going to be a comedy for sure.

The story takes place in the town of Kulyenchikov where there was a curse of stupidity upon all of its residents. The play tells the story of new school master Leon’s mission to break the curse. As Leon works to break the curse for this town, he falls in love with Sophia, the character whom he ends up marrying to break the curse. There are many challenges thrown in Leon’s way that make this student production not only entertaining but comedic at the same time.

Taking on his first lead role ever, senior Kevin Brunette played Leon.

“They [drama department] looked at me for I think two roles, and eventually they narrowed it down to me and two or three other people who they thought could also play Leon, and when the casting list came out, I just happened to be the one they thought could play the role the best,” said Brunette.

This was a new opportunity for this senior actor, and he learned a lot from his experience as the lead role and being on stage for the duration of the performance.

“I’ve played supporting roles before, but Leon was the first lead, so it really helped me [learn to] figure out a character and stay in a character for the entire show because I didn’t get a chance to go off stage, and it just help me learn like theatre endurance; staying on stage, staying in character, all of that,” said Brunette.

Brunette’s new knowledge after this role has him excited for future student productions.

Playing Lenya Zubritsky, senior Audrey Busbee had a big role in this play. Although it may seem quite simple when watching, this senior actress knows what it takes to get the audience laughing.

“My character [Lenya Zubritsky] is completely crazy, and it was kind of challenging for me to play her at first because I’m used to more serious roles, but I think Lenya helped me branch out as an actress and kind of try something new, and I was really happy about that,” said Busbee.

Overall the cast felt as if their hard work into this production payed off. The satisfaction Busbee feels on stage when the audience shows their appreciation and responsiveness is incomparable.

“The audience for opening night was my personal favorite; they were all so responsive. And then of course our second show [the matinee] was a little bit rougher, that’s just like common. Although a lot of people didn’t come to the matinee show, they were still very responsive for the amount of people in the audience. And the closing night show was really great; I saw a couple of my teachers there every performance got a laugh,” said Busbee.