
A delightful two-hander involving Matt
Friedman, an accountant from St. Louis and Sally Talley, from Lebanon,
Missouri.
Matt has come to Sally's home to woo her in his own gentle way. Both
are misfits in the societies they inhabit and this wonderful love story
has a charm and perfection all its own without ever
being sentimental. Talley's Folly won both the
Pulitper Pripe and a New York Drama Critics
Circle Award. It is a complementary piece to Talley and Son
which describes the events going on in the house while Sally and Matt
try and establish some sort of future for themselves down in the
Victorian boathouse.
The show was staged in the
Paramount East with the audience arranged three-quarters round and
facing the entrance doors to the performance space. The doors then
became the entrance to the boathouse. The set comprised a wonderful
collection of rowing boats and bits of sailing tackle, most of which
were lent by one of the local marinas. It is extraordinary how generous
people can be. At one point we were desperately looking for a damaged
row boat and, while driving round Putman Valley, Stephanie saw just the
thing.
When she asked at the fishing tackle store nearby if she could "borrow
it for a play",
the owner didn't bat an eye. He simply said "sure" and proceeded to tie
it on to the roof of Stephanie's voyager with the help of his son and
some rope he dug out! Actually, we had quite a job getting it off since
they used really good sailing knots. The only set cost we had was $5
for some sacking for the floor. The biggest expense was the lighting.
Angus Hepburn played Matt and Ariane Barron played Sally.
Both Angus and Ariane
subsequently appeared in several PRT productions. The Show was stage
managed by Chris Osborne and the lights run by Dan Murphy
Talley's Folly
by Lanford Wilson
directed by Stephanie Hepburn
Cast in order of appearance
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