For those keeping count, a review has to accomplish a few things. In general, those things are: to tell a bit about the story, to describe how well it was acted, to describe the technical aspects, and finally, to motivate a reader to either attend or avoid the event. However this is easier said than done.

What if a reviewer, like myself, gets sent to something that's not exactly their forte?  I'm not much on absurdist theater, and if it's performance art, my ability to enjoy it is directly related to the amount of alcohol I've had before the show.  So, it seems silly sometimes to review something that the public will disagree with for nitpicky, biased reasons when they read my nitpicky, biased review.  But, someone has to get the word out on a show, so let's get to the review.

Talley's Folly was written by Lanford Wilson and is the second in the Talley Trilogy.  It won the Pulitzer in 1980.  The story is about a Jewish accountant, Matt Friedman, who is in love with and pursues a Southern nurse by the name of Sally Talley.  Matt, who is a good decade older than Sally, trespasses onto the family land of the Talley's and after an unpleasant request to formally ask for Sally's hand, hides in a boathouse to discuss the matter with the Sally.  When she does arrive, they discuss many things, both frivolous and frightening before deciding how to proceed.

In the recent Williamsburg Players production, David Adams as Matt Friedman had the difficult task of playing Jewish without playing to type.  The Friedman character is also a German immigrant who does impressions of other people so there are a great deal of accents upon accents in the script.  Adams did this quiet well, consistently, and without sacrificing diction.  Matt is a very wordy part, whose awkward dialog could easily bore an audience. Adams was animated, enthusiastic, and always in control.  There was an excellent pratfall as well, that surprised me.

Sally Talley was played by Debbie Noonan. Noonan was quite strong as well, although her motivation sometimes seemed a bit more forced than Adams.  It was never quite clear what the ages of the characters were, only that Matt was older than Sally. Noonan's Sally struck me as a bit old to be playing some of the games she does, but Noonan gave her Sally an appropriate balance of Southern Bias, innocence, and impatient desire.

Brandon Lyles's direction was on point.  He had a keen grasp of the Wilson's script and was able to get his actors to dance the dance needed. The beats of this script center over each character building up the courage to confess something or come to terms with something.  While a lack of physical action could definitely make this a boring script, Lyles was able to move his actors around well on the set, and keep the pacing moving as quickly as possible.  While some folks around me got impatient, I was avidly following each characters willingness to shed a little more of their souls.

Janea Whitacre's costumes were few, but quite appropriate.  Pat Richards and Ory Stefano did a good job decorating the set with bits and pieces.  The Lyles', Amy and Brandon, lighting was quite nice, especially the shimmering reflections from the "water". 

The technical star of the show had to be Rick Hinson's set design.

I've only seen a few things at The Williamsburg Players home, however, of the season, I would have to say that this was by far their best show.  I'm looking forward to seeing what their next season will hold.  I"ll have to go to their next offering, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine opening on May 17th.