Dunes Summer Theatre set designer Michael Lasswell confirms a nearly 13-foot vintage rowboat can fit “snugly” in the back of his panel van.
“The boat, and the scenes staged around it, are so key to the storytelling and the symbolic connection of the two characters on stage in this beautiful unfolding story,” Lasswell said.
“We were able to borrow our boat from a neighboring theater, and finding it was one of the happiest days in my life. I just wasn’t sure I could get the boat to fit in my van, but we made it work.”
Set along the waterfront landscape of an aging boathouse and small dock in remote Lebanon, Missouri, “Talley’s Folly,” written by playwright Lanford Wilson, has performances 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays June 28-July 14 at Dunes Summer Theatre in Michigan City.
Robert Morris is cast as a bookish accountant named Matt, and Amanda Tomczak is a nurse named Sally, the object of Matt’s attention from a rekindled past romance.
Set in 1944, the couple engages in spirited discourse, with moments of humor, as they untangle their emotions about the possibility of pursuing a relationship. The play is set in just more than 90 minutes of “unfolding real time” on the Fourth of July holiday.
“We just finished doing ‘Blithe Spirit’ here at the Dunes and actor Robert Morris had been interested in being part of that cast,” Lasswell said.
“I knew his talent for a heartfelt performance, and I told him to wait until the next show run for ‘Talley’s Folly,’ and he did.”
Lasswell said while he knew Morris had a stage resume primarily filled with previous roles that were character actor types and clownish, he found him to be the right fit to play a Jewish accountant fearful that his final chance for love and happiness is fading.
Lasswell told Morgan McCabe, the director for “Talley’s Folly,” about Morris just as she was preparing her auditions and casting opportunities.
“Back when we did these auditions in the early spring, it was all done as Zoom auditions,” McCabe said.
“Michael was right about Robert, and I already had some familiarity with Amanda. When I met up with them both at a coffee shop in Hobart, it was our first in-person meeting for all three of us, and it was clear they had a great chemistry.”
McCabe said for decades she has admired both the play and Wilson, the latter whom hailed from Lebanon, Missouri and died at age 73 in 2011.
“I remember when this play was first onstage, and I loved it from the start,” McCabe said.
“I’ve even auditioned for previous productions of this play in the past.”
“Talley’s Folly” premiered in February 1980 on Broadway and starred Judd Hirsch and Trish Hawkins. Wilson won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the stage work.
“The audience learns so much about this couple during the course of the play, including secrets revealed and each of their families’ pasts,” McCabe said.
Lasswell said he draws a parallel between the couple’s struggles and the current state of their surroundings.
“We want the boating house and the dock area to be in distress and need of repair,” Lasswell said.
“There’s one scene when Matt’s foot steps right through a rotten board on the dock, which is very telling. It harkens to a parallel between this couple and their current environment, in that things can still be beautiful even once broken. We are adding several layers of paint to all of the set pieces to display the need for layers and how easily those layers can peel away in real life.”
Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
‘Talley’s Folly’
When: June 28-July 14
Where: Dunes Summer Theatre, 288 Shady Oak Drive, Michigan City
Cost: $30-$35
Information: 219-879-7509; dunesARTS.org
