LIHUE — For Nellie Foster, directing Kauai Community Player’s final production of the season comes full circle. “I acted in this play in 1987. This is dedicated to the man who acted opposite me in that show. He passed away
LIHUE — For Nellie Foster, directing Kauai Community Player’s final production of the season comes full circle.
“I acted in this play in 1987. This is dedicated to the man who acted opposite me in that show. He passed away about 24 years ago,” she said. “Working on the set, I’ve been thinking about him a lot.”
Set on the Fourth of July in 1944 on an old boathouse in Missouri, “Talley’s Folly” written by Lanford Wilson tells the love story of Sally Talley, played by Nicole Cowan, and her Jewish suitor, Matt Friedman, played by Ian Foster.
“Matt went on a vacation the previous summer and met Sally at a dance. He’s been writing to her for a year. He didn’t have a very good experience meeting her family, which you can well imagine with him being Jewish,” Foster said. “Because during the war, anyone who didn’t exactly look like everyone else was not held in very high esteem.”
During the play, Sally and Matt, reveal to one another how past trials and tribulations shaped them to the people they are.
Foster says the play is unusual.
“It’s 97 minutes with no intermission. So it’s real time. We go from sunset into evening throughout the show,” she said. “There’s only two actors, so once Matt Friedman walks out, he’s on stage the entire time.”
Cowan said she fell in love with the script.
“I felt a connection with Sally. I’m the one of four girls and the only one who isn’t married or has kids,” she said.
Ian Foster said he wanted to be a part of the play because he wanted to continue out his parents’ legacy.
“Knowing my mom was in it, I wanted to be involved. I’ve never been in a show where my mom was the director, so it’s been fun to work with her in a different aspect.”
Because the show has only two actors, it was challenging, Foster said.
“But these two have been working, working and working. Even when we’re not working, they’re rehearsing,” she said.
For the play, an authentic 1940s dress was made specifically for Cowan. And Ian Foster dons a wig.
“It’s really cool, knowing it was made just for me,” Cowan said.
The dress is made with an authentic 1940’s pattern, Foster added.
The hardest part was getting the lighting exactly right, Foster said,
“Lighting is really important and the set is complex. I’m really excited for the lighting to come out,” she said.
Ian Foster called Talley’s Folly a beautiful story.
“I want to do it justice,” he said.
Talley’s Folly begins tonight and runs for three weeks at Puhi Theatrical Warehouse. Tickets for opening weekend is $15.
Performances run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets after opening weekend are $20.
For Tickets: kauaicommunityplayers.org/talleys-folly/
