Imagine a beautiful love story that takes place on a dock at night with a man and a woman, and - that's it. Yes, that's right. This play really has only two actors playing two characters in one location in one scene.
However, don't be fooled by this apparent simplicity; Lanford Wilson's "Talley's Folly" is anything but mundane, and the Lyric Stage Company's production more than does it justice.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning play is part of Wilson's trilogy tracing the Talley family over a 32-year span. In February, Professor Don Weingust directed a production here in Balch Arena Theater of "Fifth of July," the last play of that trilogy. (Although Wilson wrote "Fifth of July" first, its setting in the 1970s places it last in the series chronologically.)
This play is a love story, but the character dynamics are also much deeper and more unconventional than a typical archetype. The entire show takes place on July 4, 1944 at an old boat house (a "folly") on the Talley farm in Lebanon, Missouri, where no one has ever seen a Jew. All 97 minutes of the play are essentially the depiction of what has the potential to be a very awkward date; Sally Talley and Matt Friedman, a big, clumsy Jew from St. Louis, are in love, but they both keep a tight grip on their emotions.
Matt's purpose for visiting Sally is actually to tell her his powerful and emotional story, which he hopes will not prevent her from marrying him. In the course of the play, Sally and Matt discuss issues of the time, such as World War II. They struggle with and eventually expose their darkest, innermost secrets and, thus, ultimately deepen their relationship.
If you enjoyed "Fifth of July," then you might like "Talley's Folly" even better. This play retroactively picks up the storyline of Aunt Sally and her late husband during their courtship thirty years prior to "Fifth." "Talley's Folly" is simpler and easier to follow than "Fifth of July," yet the former has just as much substance and more grace.
At the very beginning of the play, Stephen Russell as Matt gradually beguiles the audience with playful banter that is both entertaining and engaging.
Russell seems to be the more believable, less exaggerated actor, while Marianna Bassham, who plays Sally, appears to have frequent and extreme mood swings, giving her character a quick, stubborn temper that can be annoying.
The mind games that these two lovers play add excitement, but eventually they grow old and the audience just wants them to give in, tell the truth, and get engaged.
In particular, audiences may grow more bored with Matt than with Sally, especially with the former character's accent and his constant voice imitations.
While most of the blocking flows very well, some of Russell's actions - such as finding the hole in the boat or falling through the floor - are too sudden and staged. At times, the emotions in this play are a little too strong.
On the other hand, the light and happy aspects of Wilson's play shine through in this production. The dialogue contains just the right amount of humor to sound natural and be entertaining. This play doesn't try to be a comedy or force humor.
The fairly simple but gorgeous set draws the reader right into the scene at hand. Screens surround the rear of the boathouse set to provide the outdoorsy background, and the lighting on these screens gradually changes over the course of the play to indicate varying degrees of sunset, a technique that is both highly effective and eye-catching.
Faint nature sounds in the background add to the realism. The set complements the actors nicely and sets the perfect mood.
The set, as well as every other aspect of the play, possesses the quality of seeming simple but actually containing layers of complexity.
Although "Talley's Folly" features only two actors interacting on a simple set, all of the elements work together to create a rich, intricate production that is so much more than just your average love story.
