Love is the perfect theme for the Chemainus Theatre Festival’s summer feature, Talley’s Folly, playing Aug. 16 to 26.
The Pulitzer Prize-winner and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award-winner as best play of the season, the romantic comedy, by Lanford Wilson, follows unlikely sweethearts, Matt and Sally, as they try to once and for all to settle their feelings for each other.
The scene is the ornate, deserted Victorian boathouse on the Talley place in Lebanon, Missouri; the time 1944.
Matt Friedman (played by Matthew Payne), has arrived to plead his love to Sally Talley (Heather Pattengale), the susceptible but uncertain daughter of the family.
Bookish, erudite, honest, and funny, Matt refuses to accept Sally’s rebuffs and her fears that her family would never approve of their marriage.
Charming and indomitable, he gradually overcomes her defences, telling his innermost secrets to his loved one and, in return, learning hers as well.
Gradually he awakens Sally to the possibilities of a life together.
“Everything is beautifully ruined in this play,” says director, Amiel Gladstone. “The old crumbling boathouse, post-War America, and two characters struggling with who they are and who they can be together. It’s an honour to come to Chemainus for the first time to direct the first play the company every produced.”
Talley’s Folly is a special presentation for the Chemainus Theatre Festival’s 25th anniversary season.
Tickets are available for matinee and evening shows but remember, the run is for two weeks only. Call the Box Office at 1-800-565-7738, or visit chemainustheatre.ca.