Director Denis Lawrence listed a few reasons for opening the Dartmouth Theatre Company’s 2016-2017 season with Neil Simon’s “Fools.”

“We wanted to reintroduce Neil Simon to a new generation,” said Lawrence, who has co-led the company for the past six years with Quinn Elementary’s music specialist, Shirley Guerreiro. “It was also a breakaway from the last few years where we’ve done traditional holiday shows.”

The 16-student cast dressed the part of 1800s Russia. The premise: 200 years prior, Vladimir Yousekevitch cursed the village of Kulyenchikov, making all of the townspeople stupid, because the Zubritsky family had forbidden a marital union between the two households. In order to break the curse, visiting school teacher Leon Steponovich Tolchinsky has to either educate Zubritsky’s heir, Sophia, or Sophia has to marry Count Gregor, the last in the Yousekevitch line.

“It’s a very funny show,” said Lawrence, adding that it is the second straight play — or non-musical — in his tenure. “That’s what made it different. It was all acting, all the time.”

Lawrence held auditions for the show in September, and the cast and eight-person tech team has rehearsed three times each week since then. The show premiered on December 1, and ran through December 3, but Lawrence said opening night was no sweat.

“The kids were really excited about opening night,” he said. “Over the past few years, we’ve kind of become a well-oiled machine.”

Lawrence said this year’s crew of students are 110-percent dedicated to theater, so there weren’t many obstacles to overcome in terms of coaching.

“It was flawless actually. Their timing was there. They allowed the audience to escape [into 19th century Russia] for two and a half hours. It’s a very tight knit group that came out of this cast,” said Lawrence. Additionally, parent volunteers Julio Olimpio and Diane Richards helped with set construction and costume design, respectively, he said.

Approximately 500 tickets were sold for the weekend showings, said Lawrence.

“It was amazing watching [the students] evolve — taking a piece that they weren’t familiar with and bringing it to life,” said Lawrence. He noted that most fun was helping students develop a Russian accent for the stage.

Already the theatre company is prepping for its spring musical. Auditions for Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” will occur after winter break, said Lawrence. The students will again rehearse throughout the semester before putting their performance before live audiences on April 27, 28, and 29.

“It’s a long process, but it’s an exciting process,” concluded Lawrence. The company will simultaneously start work in February to participate in The Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild competition.