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Daily Ncbraskan
Arts 8t
Entertainment
ITalley's Folly' creates apprediatifoini UNL feafieir
Bv Mike Frost
Too often. I think we kid ourselves
into thinking we have professional caliber
theater here in Lincoln. Especially after
seeing productions like "Later" or "The
Skin of Our Teeth," which are so well
staged, the tendency is to believe this
is as good as it comes. The Guthrie
Theater's two-day stand at UNL's Kimball
Hall definitively proves that, yes, the
university's productions may be good -but
they're certainly not the best there is.
The Guthrie may very well be the best
there is. There 5 no reason to expect any
UNL production to be as professional as
Theater Review
"Talley's Folly." UNL's presentatations
are student ventures; our peers graciously
letting us in on their learning processes.
There is a certain magic in that, to be
sure.
However, there is nothing quite like
professionally-produced theater. There's a
certain excitement, an indescribable polish,
a special glitter that makes the theater
experience one mat cannot oe cquaieu oy
any other form of artistic expression.
"Talley's Folly" is a perfect example of
this kind of experience. Theater in Lincoln
may never seem the same again.
What makes the Guthrie so special arc
the actors. In the case of Langford Wilson's
"Talley's Folly," there are only two
thespians - Eugene Troobnick, who
plays Matt Friedman, and Jacqueline
Knapp who portrays Sally Talley.
The play itself, which takes place during
World War II, is a simple one. Friedman is
a European immigrant, who also happens
to be Jewish. Through some incredible
turn of events we arc not made privy to,
he has fallen in love with Sally Talley,
a delightful Missouri farm girl, who, despite
her feelings for Matt, finds herself torn
between her Semitic lover and the demands
made by her geo- and egocentric family.
The action takes place entirely in a folly
(a gazebo-like structure) built by one of
Sally's eccentric relatives; hence the name
"Talley's Folly."
Their dialgue brilliantly exposes their
insecurities, strengths and handicaps. Matt
is a witty accountant with a tragic past,
Sally an expatriated Sunday School teacher
who should have left home a long time ago.
Their characters blend and clash and blend
again in such a way that, by the play's
Dinsdale's offers food, bar
By Chris Welsch
In a classic "Monty Python's Flying
Circus" episode, Doug and Dinsadale
Pyrannha cavorted with a giant hedgehog.
Dinsdale believed the hedgehog was out to
get him. In his paranoid frenzy, he nailed
several people's heads to tables.
Little did he know that some years
later, in the quiet burg of Lincoln, his
name would reappear on the front of a
restaurant at 1228 P St.
Dinner Review
Jon Hedges, owner of Dinsdale's, said
the name came to him and his partner
during a brainstorming session.
The restaurant reflects none of the
whimsical characteristics of its name
sake. Hedges opened the restaurant Feb.
17 and began serving food Feb. 28.
Dinsdale's occupies the space which
housed Brannigan's and later the Trader.
Very few renovations have been made in
the decor. A few antique musical instr
uments lining the walls are the most
substantial change.
Dinsdale's serves lunch, but operates
as a lounge at night. The fare includes
several hamburger variations, three soups,
six sandwich selections and a variety of
appetizers.
The hamburgers at Dinsdale s are
delicious. I wanted to avoid using that
word. I couldn't. For S2.50, you can
get one of these char-broiled delicacies,
along with a big pile of steak fries. The
fries are at least as good as the hamburgers
on a relative potato scale.
The salad bar at Dinsdale's is sufficient.
It has all the neccesary trappings without
any of the frills.
Another highlight on the menu is the
beer-cheese soup. A large cup costs $1
and is well worth the price. The soup
has a tangy, sharp cheese taste, with just
a hint of beer and onions adding to the
overall effect. Hedges said the beer-cheese
soup has established itself as a customer
favorite.
The polite service and quiet atmosphere
are also pluses at Dinsdale's - but now for
the minus.
I ordered the "Divinity" with the beer
cheese soup. It was not heavenly.
What purported to be sliced turkey
with hollandaise sauce and fresh sliced
tomatoes later turned out to be mediocre
turkey roll on a piece of mushy white
bread. The tomatoes were fresh and tasty
and so were the mushrooms, but the
hollandaise sauce was almost nonexistent.
I didn't like it. Avoid the "Divinity."
Dinsdale's offers one half-price drink
to patrons with a ticket stub from evening
movies. Hedges said many movie-goers are
taking him up on the offer.
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Jacqueline Knapp is Sally Talley and Eugene Troobnick is Matt Friedman in the
Guthrie Theater's production of "Talley's Folley."
end, we feel a sort of catharsis - as if we effective portrayal. What is most chilling
ourselves had lived through this traumatic is Matt's disintegration from a self-assured
experience. In a way, then, trauma businessman to a scared Jewish refugee,
supplants drama. This transition is the play's main strength.
The play is amusingly written. In fact, The production is 107 minutes long
the play's first five minutes or so are (Troobnick makes this quite clear in his
nothing more than a humorous monologue, monologue), with no intermission,
delivered by TroobnickFriedman (the dis- However, despite the lack of a break, the
tinction became blurry at points). One of time passed quickly, and, after a few
the presentation's cleverest moments is customary bows, the actors are quickly
expose on the life expectancy of a bee gone, the experience is over.
f"Ulir lrwi;c xirlnt ! h."i PrtrtL'
I Mills liiun j uui i iws. v--.j'-.-j.
Troobnick chortles). Shortly after this,
the play's action subtly begins.
Unfortunately, the dialogue too often
trite and repetitious. However, tins
is
shortcoming is so overshadowed by the
Or perhaps the experience has just
begun. Presentations like "Talley's Folly"
tend to reaffirm one's faith in live theater.
These apprentices in theater workshops
may not be as accomplished as Jacqueline
KnaDD and Eueene Troobnick. but
rr i r
actors' performances, that it ultimately wouldn't it be nice to be able to say "I
becomes irrelevant. There is so much emo
tion that you almost believe what you are
hearing - no matter how contrived it
might sound (and it did sound quite
contrived toward the end).
saw so-and-so when they were in a college
presentation of 'She Stoops to Conquer?' "
Yes, theater is alive in Lincoln,
Nebraska. And although a troupe as
versatile as the Guthrie Theater may not
Knapp is delightful as Sally Talley, return to the Capital City for some time,
combining just the right amounts of sawy it is still important to attend as many pro-
and innocence to make the characteriza- ductions as possible. Hopefully, the
tion credible. Troobnick's Matt (according Guthrie's appearance will spur on interest
to the program, the actor has been playing in live theater here,
this role for quite some time) sometimes This, then, would be the greatest
seems a bit much; however, it still is an achievement of "Talley's Folly."
Is flhe GQ search sincere? And
what's on St for Gumshoe?
The G. Cue: Late night DJ Mustaf
bena Miztaykh took me to the KZEN
studio. He had no choice. I was hand
cuffed to his ankle. Miztaykh sent out an
A.P.B. to the lonely phantoms who have
made a rhythm-and-blues mantra of his
play list. The Guy was among the
devotees and he called in to say that he
would meet me, alone, at the Drumstick.
rat i
p- 1 Clark
Staff photo by Craig Andresen
Owner Jon Hedges serves up the brew at Dinsdale's.
I carried Miztaykh up to my office.
Babs was out front at her desk, belching
The Clash into a nearly empty bottle of
Mad Dog 20-20.
"Babs, get on the horn and find me a
locksmith."
"It's always tease, tease, tease," she
wailed, sneering at me. She's better with
blues numbers, I thought.
"Babs," I said, waving my free hand in
front of her face in an effort to make the
words register. "Babs . . . the handcuffs
... I need a locksmith," I said, mouthing
"locksmith" broadly, like a vaudeville
comedy routine.
"... you're happy when I'm on my
knees," she belted, a cackle of laugher
starting to form in her voice. She pointed
at the handcuffs, then at Miztaykh, back
and forth, and you could hear the har-har
chorus grow.
"Locksmith . . . Babs ..."
She was pounding the desk with the
palm of her hand, screaming white noise
full of laughter. I looked back at Miztaykh
draped over my shoulder. He had fallen
asleep reading a Sanskrit murder mystery
paperback. I decided the locksmith could
wait.
I went into the office, banking Miz
taykh's head off the door as we negotiated
the turn. There was a crowd waiting for
me inside: Mona Vermiami, Diane Pember
ton and the dame who kicked me around
the Showcase whose name I would have to
get sometime. It was the kind of a crowd
you'd expect to meet at high noon with
pistols in a town with a name like Tumble
weed Gulch, a bare-fanged crowd of
vampires who looked as if they thought I
was the blood bank.
I casually wheeled around and sat at
my desk, splashing Miztaykh's head against
aQ 3SJI di? S0- "body want a
drink? I said with bogus warmth
a Vy?U d0" Mona said- "A
double Wild Turkey with a twist of Fate "
did so Miztaykh dropped from my
shoulder and tumbled face first to the
floor.
Continued on Page 9
