An unlikely romance set within the timeframe of World War II is the heart of Talley's Folly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by noted playwright Lanford Wilson. It is the story of Matt, a big-city Jewish accountant, and Sally, a pretty younger woman who lives in Missouri. They are the play's only characters.
Matt is the story's narrator. He divulges quite a bit of the back story before Sally even appears. It seems as though they struck some sparks during the previous summer, when Matt vacationed in Missouri. However, in Sally's case, time hasn't seemed to make the heart grow fonder. When Matt unexpectedly appears at the Talley home a year later, Sally is upset. She tells him more than once to leave her alone. It is never clear until the final scenes why Matt doesn't take the hint and take a hike.
The sad thing about Talley's Folly is that it is almost too dated for a revival. Sally's "big secret," tearfully revealed near the end of the play, is so common today that it's hard to imagine its impact in 1944. This "big secret" (not to be revealed here) is so tantalizingly dangled before the audience that its unraveling is basically a let-down. Matt has secrets of his own, and one can easily imagine why he doesn't share his painful past with others. Even hard-hearted Sally is shocked by the details of his family history.
The odd thing about Talley's Folly is that Matt's revelation doesn't make Sally see her own troubles as relatively minor.
A lovely set creates an otherworldly environment in the dim twilight of a Missouri evening. The entire play takes place in the dilapidated boat house on the Talley's massive estate. Like Sally herself, the boat house has seen better days. It is now moss covered and lacking small bits of white-painted lattice like so many missing teeth. An overturned row boat is used as a bench.
The production's highlights are found in the acting skills of Jonathan West as Matt Friedman and Laura Gray as Sally Talley. Jonathan West is ideally cast as the bombastic accountant. His humble demeanor charms the audience almost immediately. Laura Gray is his equal in every respect. She, too, looks the part. In her manner and speech, Gray is every inch a Southern-born woman. One wishes she would soften towards Matt a bit earlier in the play. However, Gray excels in maintaining her distance from this gentle suitor.
It is unfortunate that director C. Michael Wright cannot conjure more chemistry between these actors. But he successfully moves the play along at such a brisk pace that the lack of attraction between the two actors isn't as noticeable as it could be. This isn't Milwaukee Chamber Theater's best offering this season, but it provides some excellent character development, good laughs and a happy ending.
