Matched Pair

Bristol Riverside Theatre stages ‘Talley’s Folly,’ Lanford Wilson’s tale of two lonely hearts.

By: Matt Smith

"image"
Lori Fischer (left) is Sally Talley and Buzz Bovshow plays Matt Friedman in Talley’s Folly, playing at Bristol Riverside Theatre through Feb. 13.


   Even if they’re working with someone they can’t stand, actors are usually pretty good at faking it — that’s what they do for a living, after all. Still, Buzz Bovshow and Lori Fischer — stars of the Bristol Riverside Theatre production of Talley’s Folly — seem to have forged an authentic professional friendship in just a few weeks of rehearsal.
   "He’s a total joy," says Ms. Fischer of Mr. Bovshow. "We’ve all worked with people where you think, ‘Is this person listening? Are they thinking of what they heard on the radio? Are they on stage with me?’"
   "As an actor, you’ve got to have an arsenal of getting through the day — an ego that is secure," adds Mr. Bovshow. "A lot of people take that in a direction that is phenomenal… You can work on a really beautiful play, or a great comedy, and have a miserable time if there’s that person that doesn’t get it, won’t get, or gets it but won’t let anyone know they get it."
   "There’s this knowledge that we both have that ‘I’m on stage with someone I can trust,’" says Ms. Fischer, who met Mr. Bovshow at an audition in New York City last month.
   Lanford Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama runs in Bristol through Feb. 13. Mr. Bovshow and Ms. Fischer star as a pair of unlikely lovers — Matt Friedman, a 42-year-old Jewish immigrant accountant, and 31-year-old Sally Talley, from a wealthy family of bigoted Protestants. The story takes place on July 4, 1944, in Sally’s small hometown of Lebanon, Mo. Matt and Sally, who met a year earlier when the former vacationed in Lebanon, reconvene at a deserted Victorian boathouse on the Talley estate for a lively examination of their respective feelings.
   Mr. Bovshow is a Yale-trained actor with extensive stage credits, including a recent role in a North Carolina production of a play with similar atmosphere, Driving Miss Daisy. He actually starred in Talley’s Folly about a decade ago at a Florida theater but says he didn’t understand Matt’s "nuances." "I was in my 30s and the character is in his 40s," Mr. Bovshow recalls. "There were things I felt that didn’t make sense. Now I look back and think, ‘How could I not have known that?’
   "(Matt) knows the difference between a 42-year-old and a 45-year-old, or a 42-year-old and a 38-year-old," he continues. "Someone older than 42 might be looking to settle down and have their golden years, while someone in their early 40s is still young enough to start a family or begin a new business. There’s a different kind of future and there’s a different kind of present, and the past is also in a different kind of perspective."
   Ms. Fischer is a multi-talented actor, singer, songwriter and playwright who scribed and frequently stars in Barbara’s Blue Kitchen. That show, another two-character love story set in the South, has played at regional theaters since 2000. This is the Tennessee native’s first crack at Talley’s Folly, but she says she didn’t look to her own life experience when it came to portraying a relatively old single woman — at least in 1944 standards.
   "There’s a different context for women," Ms. Fischer says. "She actually lies about her age in order to stay in her 20s, saying she’s 27, which was still ancient in her day as far as getting married… I’m much more focused on instilling the feeling of judgment her family has against her, on what it feels like to be a golden child with a family that loves and supports her, and then to realize it was all manipulation."
   The play is rich in period details — from mentions of FDR and war bonds to the two baseball teams (Browns and Cardinals) then playing in St. Louis, where Matt lives. There are reasons the play is set in 1944, says Mr. Bovshow, but they seem to be trumped by the universal love story at its center.
   "There are things that are there through all time," he notes. "’I love someone who doesn’t love me back.’ ‘I love someone but don’t want to admit it.’ ‘I live in a country I wasn’t raised in.’ ‘I live with a family that doesn’t get me.’ ‘I have this special place I like to go to where no one else goes.’"
   Over the course of exactly 97 minutes — as Matt pinpoints the play’s length in an engaging opening address to the audience — Sally goes to great lengths to reject Matt’s advances, almost to the point of appearing unlikable to the audience. "It’s interesting. Why does he hang in there with her?" asks Ms. Fischer. "Why does this guy keep loving her, when I say no for the 20th time? I allow that very question to affect the character…
   "I think the show is about how hard it is to really connect," she says. "It’s very difficult to be vulnerable and stay vulnerable, even when you’re getting a reaction that threatens that state of vulnerability. It’s a miracle when people take a breath and love each other, whether it’s a friendship or romantic relationship."
Talley’s Folly plays at Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol, Pa., through Feb. 13. Performances: Wed., Sat. 2, 8 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri. 8 p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m. Tickets cost $29-$37; $10 students. For information, call (215) 785-0100. On the Web: www.brtstage.org