Talley's Folly (1980), a play by Lanford Wilson. [ Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 277 perf.; Pulitzer Prize, NYDCC Award.] After a long absence, the St. Louis accountant Matt Friedman (Judd Hirsch) comes calling again on Sally Talley (Trish Hawkins) at her rural Missouri home. Her bigoted family has told Matt that since he is a Jew he is not welcome, and one member of the family has even threatened to shoot him. Moreover, they have hinted at some dark secret in Sally's past. After a moonlit night of arguing, joking, and wooing down at the dilapidated Victorian boathouse (the family's folly of the title), Sally confesses to Matt that an earlier disease left her unable to bear children and her former fiancé called the wedding off when he found out. Unconcerned and still in love, Matt asks Sally to elope and she agrees. The Circle Repertory Company's production of the brief, two‐character play was so popular that it moved to Broadway, complete with Marshall W. Mason's sterling direction of the two players, John Lee Beatty's rustic setting, and Dennis Parichy's naturalistic lighting. The romantic piece was part of Wilson's trilogy about the Talley family. THE FIFTH OF JULY (1978) had been seen earlier at the Circle Theatre Off Broadway, where it ran 158 performances. Many years after the events of Talley's Folly and on the same rural homestead live Kenneth Talley Jr. (William Hurt), who lost both legs in Vietnam and now teaches at the high school, and his male lover, Jed (Jeff Daniels), who is planning and building an elaborate garden on the property. Visiting them for the Fourth of July weekend is Sally (Helen Stenborg), an elderly widow who has returned with Matt's ashes, which she plans to sprinkle in the lake where he once wooed her. Also gathered are some relatives and an odd assortment of friends who while away the day after the holiday with talk, jokes, arguments, and discussions on whether to sell the old house or not. The Chekhovian character study was described by Otis L. Guernsey Jr. as “a not‐very‐tightly structured study of human spirit in the aftermath of stress.” After the success of Talley's Folly, it was revived on Broadway in 1980 and ran for 511 performances. A 2003 Off‐Broadway production was also well received. The third play of the trilogy, A Tale Told (1981), was not as popular. Showing what occurred in the family home while Matt was courting Sally in Talley's Folly, it was seen Off Broad‐way for 30 performances. Wilson later revised the script and it was produced as Talley & Son in 1985.
Talley's Folly
| American Theater Guide: Talley's Folly |
| Notes on Drama: Talley’s Folly |
Contents: Plot Summary Characters Themes Style Critical Overview Criticism Sources Further Reading |
Lanford Wilson 1979
Lanford Wilson’s romantic comedy Talley’s Folly is the second of three plays in what came to be known as Wilson’s Talley Family series. The first play in the saga, 5th of July (later renamed Fifth of July), takes place in 1977, as members of the Talley family struggle with capitalism and the Vietnam War. Among the characters is the recently widowed Aunt Sally, who values the family home more than she values money. When the actress playing Sally in the original production of Fifth of July asked Wilson for help in understanding her character, he wrote Talley’s Folly to show how Sally and her husband Matt became a couple in 1944. Two years later Wilson added a third episode to the story, Talley & Son, first produced in 1981.
Talley’s Folly shows one evening in the courtship of two unlikely lovers, Sally Talley and Matt Friedman. Sally is from a conservative, small-town, wealthy family of bigoted Protestants, and Matt is a Jewish accountant twelve years older than Sally. The story of how they become brave enough to reveal their most painful secrets touched audiences and critics, and the play’s Broadway run was a great success. First produced in 1979, the play was nominated for several Tony Awards and won the Pulitzer Prize and other awards in 1980. More than two decades after its first production, Talley’s Folly is frequently staged and is considered one of Wilson’s most hopeful and affirming plays.
| Wikipedia: Talley's Folly |
| Talley's Folly | |
 Mermaid Dramabook Series published by Hill and Wang, 1980 |
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| Written by | Lanford Wilson |
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| Characters | Sally Talley Matt Friedman |
| Date premiered | 20 February 1980 |
| Place premiered | Brooks Atkinson Theatre New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Series | The Talley Trilogy: Talley and Son Talley's Folly Fifth of July |
| Subject | -two "lame ducks" who find a wholeness rare in human relationships |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | an old boathouse in rural Missouri, 1944 |
| IBDB profile | |
| IOBDB profile | |
Talley's Folly is a 1979 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson, the second in his cycle, The Talley Trilogy between his plays Talley and Son and Fifth of July . Set in an old boathouse near rural Lebanon, Missouri in 1944, it is a romantic comedy following the characters Matt Friedman and Sally Talley as they once and for all settle their feelings for each other. Wilson received the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. The play is unique for Wilson in that it takes place in one act, with no intermission, set in ninety-seven minutes of real time. There is no set change.
Contents |
Synopsis
Talley's Folly is the story of one night in the lives of two unlikely sweethearts, Matt Friedman and Sally Talley. The one-act play takes place in a dilapidated boathouse on the Talley farm in Missouri. It is the Fourth of July in 1944.
The play opens with Matt directly addressing the audience, telling them that the play will take ninety-seven minutes and he hopes to capture and relate his story properly in that amount of time. Taking the time to point out some staging elements, he tells the audience that the gazebo-like structure next to him is a Victorian boathouse, which has unfortunately fallen into disrepair.
While on vacation in Lebanon, Missouri the previous summer, Matt met Sally and has sent her a letter every day since. Though the single reply from Sally gave him no hope for romantic encouragement, he has bravely returned to ask her to marry him.
Sally arrives at the boathouse and is in disbelief that Matt has shown up uninvited, even though he had written her that he planned to come for the holiday. Matt's arrival has created quite a stir in Sally's conservative Protestant household, where a Jewish man is not welcomed easily, especially when his intentions are to court their daughter, eleven years younger than he.
Matt's interest in Sally had never waned; once, he drove from his home in St. Louis to the hospital where she worked and waited hours for her, even after being informed that she was not available.
The conversation turns to the boathouse structure. Sally tells him it was constructed by her uncle, who built "follies" all over town. Her uncle did only what he wanted to do and Sally considers him the healthiest member of the family for his courage.
Eventually, the couple begins to reminisce about the night they met and the time they spent together last summer. Matt takes it as a positive sign that she has changed into a nice dress before coming to see him tonight. Sally's protests do not match her behavior and he pushes forward; she is the most mysterious and intriguing girl he has ever met and he determined quite a while ago to make her his wife.
Admitting that he has called Sally's aunt every two weeks during the past year, Matt reveals that he knows Sally was fired from a Sunday school teaching job. Apparently, she had been encouraging the students to read Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class in addition to the Methodist reader. The rise of labor unions was affecting the families of the children in her class and she felt obligated to help educate them. Her unorthodox methods earned her the consternation of the church elders as well as her own family members, who own the garment factory around which the labor issue centered.
Turning the tables, Sally tries to glean some information about Matt's background, a subject about which he is very guarded. He finally admits to Sally that he was probably born in Kaunas, Lithuania. His father had been an engineer. In 1911, his father was overheard in a French cafe discussing some work related to a nitrogen bomb. The family was later detained when they were trying to cross the border.
Matt's father and older sister were tortured until the French realized that the father had no information of any value to them. In the meantime, the sister had fallen into a coma from which she never awoke. They later went to the German authorities and were again detained. Matt escaped to America through the help of some relatives.
Haunted by his childhood grief, Matt vowed never to bring another child into a world that is filled with so much pain. Matt was content with his activities until he met Sally. Now he feels forever changed and hopeful for possibly the first time in his life.
Having risked the vulnerability of revealing his background, Matt presses Sally to share why she, a beautiful woman of 31 years, has never married. She characteristically diverts the conversation to economics, which frustrates Matt beyond bearing. Sally finally reveals her disappointment in love many years ago, which makes her reticent to fall in love again.
Sally's family had partnered her with Harley Campbell, whose family was also wealthy. Theirs was to be a match made in heaven, especially for the business interests of the two families. Sally had been a cheerleader and Harley a basketball star.
Unfortunately, the families' fortunes waned during the Depression. In addition, Sally was struck with tuberculosis and was sequestered for a long time. A pelvic infection had left her barren and Harley's family would no longer condone their marriage.
Matt can't help but comment on the irony of their situation. All last winter he lamented over the fact that he was in love with a girl but could never have children, and now this same girl presents him with the same situation. He believes that an angel has guided his path to her. Sally agrees to marry him and move to the city, and they vow to return to the boathouse every year so they don't ever forget the place where they fell in love.
Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 1980 Drama Critics' Circle Award
- 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- Nominations
- 1979 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play
- 1980 Tony Award® Best Play
- 1980 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play
References
Further reading
- Wilson, Lanford (1980). Talley's Folly: A Play (First edition ed.). New York: Dramatists Play Service, Inc. p. 54 pp. ISBN 0822216264.
External links
- Talley's Folly at the Internet Broadway Database
- Talley's Folly at the Internet off-Broadway Database
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