"Folly" can be frustrating--but that's a good thing
By Sean Leary, ARGUS/DISPATCH--August 26, 2004

Photo: Jenny Butler Pat Flaherty, left, and Lora Adams star in `Talley's Folley,’ which will be presented Aug. 26-29 and Sept. 2-5 by New Ground Theatre. More photos from this shoot

`Talley's Folly' will be presented by New Ground Theatre at 7:30 p.m. today through Sunday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Becherer Hall, Rivermont Collegiate, 1821 Sunset Drive, Bettendorf. Repeat performances shows again at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2-4 and 2 p.m. Sept. 5. Tickets: $12 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Call (563) 326-7592.

I've only given one semi-negative review to a New Ground Theatre show (``Female Problems'') and I have to admit that for the first 15 minutes or so of ``Talley's Folly,'' I thought this might end up being the second. Fortunately, I was wrong.

To be sure, ``Talley's'' has moments in which the characters veer dangerously close to grating on your nerves. Yes, it's an intentional narrative device, but it sometimes works too well. At times I was as exasperated with the onstage couple as they were with each other, leaving me torn between admiring the creation of such distinctive characters and wishing they would quit beating around the bush in such bizarre ways.

But their oddities and vagaries do serve a purpose in shaping their personae, and once the show begins to unfold, their defense mechanisms break down and we not only begin to see the reason for their distracting jags of dialogue, but we actually empathize with the characters because of them. It's a brilliant balancing act by playwright Lanford Wilson, and one that's definitely worth seeing.

``Talley's Folly'' is set in 1944, in a small boathouse in the Ozarks. Matt Friedman (Pat Flaherty), a 42-year-old academic from St. Louis, has taken the risk of zipping down to pursue his summer romance of a year before, 31-year-old Sally Talley (Lora Adams). Both of them have reasons for continuing the love affair, and both have reasons for running in the opposite direction. But at the moment contained in the play, both will be forced to stand their ground, exorcise their demons, break through each others' shells, and reach a satisfying conclusion.

Both Mr. Flaherty and Ms. Adams are ably up to the parts. Mr. Flaherty gives Matt a slightly downtrodden glibness that masks a heart crying out for connection. Having walled himself off from most of humanity, he's drowned himself in figures and fiction, reflected in his calculated way of metaphorically stating his case. Ms. Adams' Sally uses a rigid coolness to portray disinterest and disdain while obviously craving just the opposite from both her suitor and herself. Believing she has little choice, she's captured herself in a prison to which she holds the key, but is deathly afraid to use it.

With a gorgeous, rustic set designed by Chris Eichery, and with characters rooted in the past, ``Talley's Folly'' evokes a certain nostalgia while remaining contemporary in its examination of the barriers we create around ourselves, which ironically end up denying us that which we desire and need the most. It does so in a way that's unique, quirky and, at times, frustrating. But there is a method to its characterizations, and some humor as well, along the way to a bright finale.

Like all New Ground Theatre productions, ``Talley's Folly'' adds in a positive, thoughtful way to the local theater landscape, and is well worth checking out.

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