Talley's Folly

Talley’s Folly, a love story of passions, dreams, and uncertainty is set in picturesque Lebanon, Missouri. It is July 4^th, 1944 and Matt Friedman, played by Michael Brahce, appears from a door located on upstage-left. He has just stepped on a dock that has been in the Talley family for generations. Matt prefaces the play with his anticipations on how the performance should take place stylistically, “like a waltz”. He predicted that the moving parts should flow smoothly and with certainty. Mr. Friedman helps coax the imagination into believing that we are in the scene and completely removes the concept of the invisible fourth wall. He states that he will perform on the dock while we are all regrettably stuck in the lake water. Occasionally we are graced with the presence of some forties swing music coming from across the lake. The opening monologue had a unique characteristic of verbatim repetition. It was performed twice in a row, only faster the second time. Using the reason of wanting those audience members who entered late to have heard what was just said, Matt is now viewed as a loveable and personal character from the beginning. The unique introduction had me entranced from the beginning of the play.