Lamplighters To Present Staged Reading of 'Talley’s Folly'

Submitted by Lamplighters Community Theatre

Lamplighters Community Theatre will present a staged reading of “Talley’s Folly,” a romantic comedy that recently rocked New York theater-goers with an Off-Broadway revival that played to enthusiastic, sold-out audiences. Dates for the local performances are June 21-23.   

The reading, directed by Jim Caputo, will feature Allan and Marty Salkin,veteran performers who have appeared in major productions on both coasts, and who, in fact, starred in a production of “Talley’s Folly” in Trenton, NJ in 1986. The reading will be performed three times only: at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at a 2 p.m. matinee at Lamplighters’ new space at 5911 Severin Drive.           

Winner of both the 1980 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award as best play of the season, “Talley’s Folly” written by the late Langford Wilson, covers a pivotal evening in the courtship of 31-year-old Ozarks native Sally Talley and her 11-years-older Jewish immigrant suitor, Matt Friedman.  As the end of World War II approaches,  Friedman, an accountant in St. Louis who has spent his life keeping others at a distance, returns to Lebanon, Missouri, where he first met Sally Talley. Nothing like her conservative Protestant family and neighbors, Sally is a nurse’s aide with deep misgivings about the country’s future. After a lifetime of believing they’ll never truly belong in the world around them, Matt has worked up the courage to ask Sally for her hand, and convince her that they do belong – together. 

Critics loved it. "…Mr. Wilson is one of our most gifted playwrights, a dramatist who deals perceptively with definably American themes…he introduces us to two wonderful people, humanizing and warming them with the radiance of his abundant talent. Talley’s Folly is a play to savor and cheer." —NY Times. 

"It is perhaps the simplest, the most lyrical play Wilson has written—a funny, sweet, touching and marvelously written and contrived love poem for an apple and an orange." —NY Post.

"Somewhere, Cupid is smiling. This heart-stirring revival gets it all so right." —Joe Dziemianowicz, Daily News.

Marty Salkin, who with her husband, Allan, lives in Scripps Ranch,  recently appeared in “Pho Donut,” a play written by George Soete and presented at Scripps Ranch Theatre’s “Out on a Limb” new play series. She is remembered for her moving performance in “The Shadow Box,”also directed by Caputo at SRT.

Marty is a long-time hospice volunteer and was honored a few years ago as volunteer of the year for San Diego Hospice. Allan currently is publications manager for SRT. He was a long-time board member and served as producing director and managing director.  He appeared in 2010 in SRT’s hit show, “Over the River and Through the Woods.”

In the past four years, Caputo has directed four highly successful plays at SRT, including “Holiday Spirits” (which he wrote and premiered at SRT), “The Shadow Box,” “Not Now, Darling” and “How the Other Half Loves.”  Jim also directed “Greetings” in 2004 and “Scapino” in 2005. He also has won numerous playwriting awards, including at the prestigious Ashland New Play Festival.  Other awards include The Curan Rep NYC Festival, First Stage LA Contest, Theatre Oxford, Fusion Theatre Audience Choice and The Palm Springs International. His hilarious comedy, “Maternal Sprits,” “opened SRT’s 2004 season and received critical acclaim and box office success. His plays have been produced from coast to coast. Jim is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Actors Alliance of San Diego.

Tickets are $10 and reservations may be made by calling 619-286-3685. Reservations are strongly recommended as seating is limited. 

Lamplighters Community Theatre is a 76-year-old community theater. It went dark six years ago to make way for the La Mesa Civic Center expansion. It reopened in April 25 at its new location at 5911 Severin Drive, La Mesa, and has launched a series of three readers’ theater productions before it begins its regular season.