Book Nook Cafe discussion

June 2009 Play Selection

Talley's Folly by Lanford Wilson

From enotes.com:

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.

We begin discussion on June 15th, and I hope several of you decide to join in.

I just picked up my copy of Talley's Folly from the library and plan to read it tomorrow. Are any of the rest of you planning to join in? It's not long and is quite upbeat.

Found out the other day that for some reason my library has it in the closed stacks and I didn't have the time to wait for someone to wander around and get it for me. I'll try this week if I can.

Barbara

I'm planning on reading it today.

deborah

Lyrics to Lindy Lou:

I haven't got a diamond ring for you.
I have not got a thing for you.
All I can really do is sing for you, my lovely Lindy-Lou.

Who would have thought that you could care for me,
That you could walk on air for me?
Say that you will always be there for me, my lovely Lindy-Lou.

And should it rain,
I'll hold the parasol and call the raindrops falling stars.
So we will never get to Paris,
I'll build Paris wherever you are.

Mmm...

I haven't got a diamond ring for you.
I have not got a thing for you.
All I can really do is sing for you, my lovely Lindy-Lou.

Top singles of 1944:

1. Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral - Bing Crosby
2. Trolley Song- Judy Garland
3. Swinging On A Star - Bing Crosby
4. Hamp's Boogiw Woogie - Lionel Hampton
5. Mairzy Doates - Merry Macs
6. You Always Hurt The One You Love - Mills Brothers
7. Twilight Time - Les Brown
8. It Could Happen to You - Jo Stafford
9. Don't Fence Me In - Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
10. Besame Mucho - Jimmy Dorsey
11. San Fernando Valley - Bing Crosby
12. Shoo-Shoo Baby - Andrews Sisters
13. I'll Walk Alone - Dinah Shore
14. I'm Making Believe - Ella Fitzgerald & Ink Spots
15. I'll Be Seeing You - Bing Crosby
16. Straighten Up And Fly Right - The King Cole Trio
17. Main Stem - Duke Ellington
18. G.I. Jive - Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
19. My Heart Tells Me - Glen Gray
20. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me - Duke Ellington

Did anyone else know that folly is a structure? I looked it up because some of the dialogue indicated as much. Who knew i'd seen them but had no idea what they were called? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly

Given the fact Matt spoke to the audience in the beginning i expected to be addressed more often in the play, but we weren't. It's one of those choices that lead me to wonder what the playwright intended to do with that opening. It turned Matt into a sort of narrator but left Sally ignorant of our presence, which i forgot during the play. However, it returned at the end. The question i ended up with is how much of the story was accurate and were Sally the one who knew the audience was there, would the play be different?

REGARDLESS (lol), the development of the play was strong. As soon as Sally appeared we learned all we needed to know about why they met there & the sort of people with whom she lived. The slow unfolding of their stories was uncomfortable at times. Because i know Judd Hirsch i could "see" Matt better than Sally, although in the beginning it was easy to imagine her, as we've seen her throughout many films, tv shows & plays about the '40s.

Matt's humor was interesting, covering, as it was, his own uncertainty, his past and his hopes for the future. I felt Sally's strength came through, as well, but only sensed real vulnerability at the end when we learned why she was distancing herself from love. At least that is my impression two days after reading it. Anyone else?

I read our play Sunday, followed by Talley & Son Monday, not knowing when i checked them out of the library that Fifth of July came first (or even that it was about the Talley family). I found it fascinating to read T&S, knowing what was going on in the folly. I can't help but wonder what it would be like to see some of the characters again in the '70s.

deborah

Sherry, thanks for the '44 playlist. Knowing those lyrics for "Lindy Lou" explained the laughter at the end of the play, the timing of it's commencement.

The 20th song of the list is a gem i learned a few decades back but had no idea it was a popular song when released. I was quite taken aback by the last line, as i learned it. Online the following is the only version which is the way it is sung in my Ellington rendition, so i apologize for the guitar notations. It's the lyrics which i wanted to share.
http://www.theguitarguy.com/donothin.htm

deborah

Deb:
Did anyone else know that folly is a structure?

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Not I. Thanks for the link.

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Deb:
Given the fact Matt spoke to the audience in the beginning i expected to be addressed more often in the play,
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I like when plays have this feature. I've only read half the play, so I need to think more on why Matt was given this role.
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Deb:
Because i know Judd Hirsch i could "see" Matt better than Sally,
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Same here. I don't know who Trish Hawkins is. Though my copy of the play has a picture on the cover of Hirsh and Hawkins dancing.

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deb:
Matt's humor was interesting
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I am enjoying his humor. And I can "hear" is voice. I thought to myself that this would be a very enjoyable play to see performed. Though it is a bit short. I don't know if people would pay NY $ for a play that is probably only an hour. Perhaps it could be coupled with another play with a similar theme.

The play is dedicated to Harold Clurman. I didn't know who that was."Harold Clurman has been called the most influential figure in the history of the American theater."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_C...

Apparently, the series American Masters on PBS did a show on him. I'll have to keep an eye out for it's rebroadcast.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmaste...

Alias, thanks for the Clurman notes.

I hope i didn't spoil the play for you. The reason i got online was to make a Definite Spoiler comment, so i will hold off. :-)

I will note that for the second month our playwrights share last names with other well known dramatists. Last month is was Jason Miller with Arthur, whose work had similarity in at least one play. This month it's Lanford Wilson with August. I have read &/or seen more works by August Wilson, however, thanks to the TV. The Piano Lesson is my favorite of his works.

deborah

deb: I hope i didn't spoil the play for you. The reason i got online was to make a Definite Spoiler comment, so i will hold off. :-)
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Not at all. I don't mind spoilers. When it comes to plays it helps me to understand them.

And this play is so short, it really could be read in a single sitting. I just stopped midway so I could watch the DVD on the Dust Bowl, as there was no baseball on last evening.

I'm of the opinion that after the announced date to discuss, there are no spoilers. Being worried about that just inhibits free flowing conversation, IMHO.

I'm still thinking about Matt directly addressing the audience, rather like the stage manager in Our Town. It reminds the audience that this isn't real life, but rather an artistic version of life. Or perhaps it's just that the whole play is Matt's memory, his version of that night when two people really connected and revealed their painful secrets.

I was amused to see Harold Ickes, the Secretary of Interior, referred to, since he was so much a part of The Worst Hard Time.

I thought it was a perfect play to read outside on the deck, as I did, with birds singing.

Sherry (sethurner) wrote: "I'm of the opinion that after the announced date to discuss, there are no spoilers. Being worried about that just inhibits free flowing conversation, IMHO.

Good point, Sherry. I'll keep that in mind next time.

Sherry (sethurner) wrote:"I'm still thinking about Matt directly addressing the audience, rather like the stage manager in Our Town. It reminds the audience that this isn't real life, but rather an artistic version of life."

I thought of that but didn't the stage manager speak throughout the play? Something about that made it different for me.

Sherry (sethurner) wrote:"I was amused to see Harold Ickes, the Secretary of Interior, referred to, since he was so much a part of The Worst Hard Time.

There were a couple of times when i felt connections with our monthly reading. Even in the end with the result of the depression & how it permanently impacted Sally's life, i was thinking of the lifelong coughs contracted from the Dust Bowl particles.

deborah

Yes, Deborah, I like it when there is a connection between things I'm reading. By coincidence I was listening to a short story and a novella by Cynthia Ozick. They're called "The Shawl" and "Rosa." Both stories are about a woman and her niece who survive a Polish concentration camp during WWII, and a daughter who does not. The novella in particular examines the effects of horrible trauma on people who survive, and how important human connection is to help people recover emotionally, as well as physically. I thought about how important it was for Matt and Sally to talk, to reveal themselves, in order to heal. Though it wasn't revealed in any depth, I think we can assume Matt suffered greatly in WWII.

I remember "The Shawl". I read it with some AOL book chat group who rarely read together. (Didn't even have a board, i think.) Great short story. Interesting that this play ties into that story too.

deborah

So OK, if you were going to cast this play, what living actors would you choose to play Matt and Sally?

I finished up the play yesterday and enjoyed it. Though I don't really have much to say about it.

As for casting, on my cover was Judd Hirsh so I had him in mind while I read.

On the cover is a actress I don't know, but she looks a bit waif like. I would cast a young Mia Farrow. I think a young, shy, thin, and delicate looking actress would fit. Other choices might be Carrie Snodgress from the movie Diary of a Mad Housewife or Louise Lasser from the TV show Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

I think the actress on the cover resembles Sandy Dennis, whose acting i enjoyed. I suspect my mind was putting her in the role because she was my first thought. Still, i think both Hirsh & Dennis, who is dead now, would be too old for the part. Ok, that made no sense but i hope you know what i mean.

So, who. Hmmm. Naomi Watts for Sally? Actually, the father of her children, Liev Schreiber, would be great as Matt, however, he's a decade too young. Still, i think i'd go with him & let makeup do its bit.

deborah

I read somewhere that this play is going to be produced in Pittsburgh next month. If it hadn't been for this group I wouldn't be familiar with the work.

Are you going to go see it, Lynne?

Lynn, I saw it ages ago, and enjoyed it very much. Let us know what you think, please.

No, I didn't note when or where. Pittsburgh is 80 miles or so from here and I don't want to drive that far at night