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Regional Reviews: New Jersey Talley's Folly Exerts Its Gentle Charms Anew Also see Bob's review of Then Came Each Actor
Matt met Sally a year earlier when he had come down to Lebanon for a vacation. They had been inseparable for a week. During the ensuing year, his courtship of Sally had faltered. Now, unbidden and unknown to Sally, Matt has come back to the Talley place to make a last ditch effort to bring himself and Sally together. Matt is in the boathouse because he has been driven from the house by members of Sally's family, whose animosity to him is related to his ancestry. While Wilson has provided substantial substance as he examines the troubled psyches of the lonely and scarred Sally and Matt, the dominant element of his creation is a gossamer, magical tone and setting (in the play's published edition, Wilson describes the setting as "a Victorian boathouse constructed of louvers, lattice in decorative panels, and a good deal of Gothic Revival gingerbread ... The boathouse is covered by a ... canopy of maple and surrounded by waist-high weeds and the .. limbs of a weeping willow"). Director John Pietrowski has emphasized the more substantive sociological and psychological elements of the play to solid effect, revitalizing an arguably modern American stage classic which over the years has been made to feel lightweight in lesser productions. Eli Ganias' Matt is as moving and passionate as he is charming and funny. His speech patterns and lightly Germanic Jewish accent are pleasing, believable and unforced. Initially, Amy Griffin's Sally is startlingly angry and harsh. However, when her back story and secrets are unmasked, Griffin's initial approach to the role pays dividends. Roman Klima's set design supports Pietrowski's directorial choices. Talley's Folly is a co-production of the Bickford Theater and director John Pietrowski's Playwrights Theatre. It is an illuminating production of a play which is both substantial and a popular entertainment. Talley's Folly continues performances through April 26, 2015 (Evenings: Thursday - except 4/23- 7:30 pm; Friday and Saturday 8 pm/ Matinees: Thursday 4/23 and Sunday 2 pm) at at the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960, Box Office: 973-971-3706; online: www.bickfordtheatre.org. Talley's Folly by Lanford Wilson; directed by John Pietrowski Cast
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