Talley's Folly

[firstfrost]

After seeing the Lyric's Talley's Folly (we lost chenoameg!) I find that most of what I'm thinking about is differences/similarites to the dpolicar/chanaleh version. All the things I think about the play are still true - I still find Matt more sympathetic than Sally, the writing good, and so on. I found the Lyric Matt very like Dave's Matt, but the Lyric Sally much more different (both harder and more frightened, which meant I could maybe understand her a little more (though I guess having seen it once before helps with that), but like her a little less.). I wonder if this is because Matt's character (for me) is so tied up in the accents and voices?

The only thing that I really didn't like was the music during the Sally-confesses confrontration. My first instinctive reaction was "oh for God's sake, is that someone's cell phone?" Then I realized it was music from the bandstand (there's a line about it), but even so, it made my entire emotional reaction to that scene one of annoyance at the noisemusic as opposed to a reaction to anything going on on stage.

Comments

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

He told Buddy about him and Sally? Not Aunt Charlotte told Buddy and he ended up in argument because of it? (Or was it just that Aunt Charlotte suggested that he tell Buddy because Aunt Charlotte is the secret tactician?)

(Not that your point isn't valid either way, I just realize that that's one of the bits I ended up not sure I understood correctly.)

[dpolicar]

Mm. My reading had been that he and Lotty had conspired, but he'd spilled the beans. But there's nothing in the text to contradict the second reading, I think.

"We weren't talkin' about isms up at the house, we were talking about you and me, down here at the boathouse, last summer." ... "Are you kidding me? mumble mumble sleep under his roof mumble mumble... we think maybe they'll shave your head." Yeah... it's clearly a jointly planned venture, but the actual reveal could have played either way. In my head it was Matt.

Of course, the fact that seven kinds of hell were breaking loose up at the house that you only find out about in Talley and Sons is also important, but Matt doesn't know about any of that either.

[desireearmfeldt]

I don't remember what impression I got from Talley and Son, but going strictly on Talley's Folly, I'd always taken it to be: Matt showed up, Buddy came out to confront him, in the course of the argument (or possibly as the thing that provoked it) Matt spilled the beans, and Lottie was around but not an active participant in the conversation. I hadn't ever considered whether Matt a) told Buddy with the goal of springing Sally from her trap, b) told Buddy because darn it that's what he came here for, or c) just got fed up and yelled it at him in the course of the argument.