By Lanford Wilson Directed by Kati Oltyan July 1 ~ 3, 2021 Lakewood, CO Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. About the Playwright Compiled by Jan Sutton Lanford Eugene Wilson (1937-2011) was born on April 13, 1937, in Lebanon Missouri, a town that he used as the setting for several of his plays, including the one you are seeing tonight. His parents divorced when he was 5 and he was raised by his mother and her second husband, a Missouri farmer. He attended college in Missouri and San Diego but left in 1957 to live in Chicago. He experimented with writing short stories but decided that his ideas might do better as plays so he attended play-writing classes through the University of Chicago Extension Program. In 1962 he moved to New York City where his plays were widely performed in Off-Off- Broadway theaters such as La MaMa Experimental Theater and Café Cino. In 1967, he received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Playwright for The Rimers of Eldritch. In 1969 he co-founded the Circle Repertory Theater, an Off-Broadway theater that was his literary home for almost 30 years. The first play of his that was successfully performed there was The Hot l Baltimore in 1973, for which he received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the Obie Award for Best New American Play. In 1975, he received his second Obie for Playwriting for The Mound Builders, also performed at Circle Rep. Talley’s Folly is part of a trilogy of plays about the Talley family, all of which explore the effects of war on a family in Missouri. The first to be written was Fifth of July, which debuted at Circle Rep in April 1978 and on Broadway in November 1980. It takes place on July 5th 1977 and explores the relationships among the Talley clan, including Ken, a gay paraplegic Vietnam vet, his partner Jed, and his friends John and Gwen, country music singers who want to buy the Talley homestead for a recording studio. Talley’s Folly followed in May 1979 but opened on Broadway before Fifth of July in February 1980. Wilson received both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for this play about the unlikely romance between Sally Talley, an Ozark spinster, and Matt Friedman, a Jewish accountant, which takes place on the 4th of July 1944. The Broadway production was also nominated for a Tony. The third play in the trilogy was originally titled A Tale Told, but the title was later changed to Talley & Son. It debuted at Circle Rep in September 1985, but apparently did not have a Broadway run. Occurring at the same time as Talley’s Folly, this explores the relationships among the rest of Sally’s family. Wilson continued to write plays into the 2000s, receiving another Obie for Sympathetic Magic in 1997. He died of pneumonia in Sag Harbor, Long Island, on March 24, 2011. Cast & Crew SALLY TALLEY - Bethany Lillis Tisdale - Bethany is excited to be returning to the stage after a crazy few years. Some of her favorite roles include Gloria in Boeing Boeing and Greta/The Other Woman in Witness for the Prosecution (both at Spotlight Theatre), Audrey in Leading Ladies (Backstage Theatre), Felicity in Habeas Corpus and Alison in A Touch of Spring (both at Miners Alley Playhouse), Daisy in Side Show, Helen in The Trojan Women, Catherine in Pippin, Emily in Our Town, Celia in As You Like It, Teenage Greek Chorus in How I Learned to Drive, and Ruth in Blithe Spirit. All my love to Doug and The Nerdlet. MATT FRIEDMAN - Doug Tisdale - Doug is very happy to be a part of Backyard Productions' inaugural show. Like many, he has missed live theatre during these pandemic-y times, and is grateful for the chance to stretch his acting wings again (and especially with such a beguiling costar). Favorite past roles include Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life, Smaug the Dragon in The Hobbit, Clifford Anderson in Deathtrap, Mike Talman in Wait Until Dark, and Mark McPherson in Laura. Thanks to Kati and everyone else with BYP. DIRECTOR/COSTUMES - Kati Oltyan - Kati grew up doing a little bit of everything at a community theater in McConnellstown, Pa. Since moving to Denver in 2011, she has worked as an actress, stage manager, set designer, and costumer, as well as a costuming mentor to the students at Golden and George Washington High Schools. She is excited to be back in the director's chair, and wants to thank Bethany, Doug, Kelly, Kiso, Phil and Scott for all their hard work making this show happen. She also wants to thank her family - Chris, Taryn, and Jamey, as well as her mom, Jan, for putting up with her special brand of crazy. Love you guys! STAGE MANAGER - Kiso Kyle - Kiso has been working in theater since high school and holds a B.A in theater from Hastings College. She has been seen onstage and off, which has included acting, directing, stage managing, set building and cartidge pleating. Since moving to Denver in 2007, she has worked with the73rd Avenue Theater Company, the Wheat Ridge Theater Company and The Spark Theater. Kiso's next project will be onstage as Mac in Three Viewings, a joint project between the Wheat Ridge Theater Company and the Firehouse Theater Company. When not acting Kiso is a science teacher. She is super excited to be working on this show as the stage manager. It has been an amazing experience working with such good friends, old and new. SET DESIGN - Phil Cope - Phil is delighted to be working with his favorite people. You may have seen his designs at the Vintage Theatre in Lady Day at the Emerson Bar and Grill, Crowns, The Sunshine Boys, and The Scottsboro Boys. He would like to dedicated this show to his son Oliver. Thanks to Chris for introducing him to all these wonderful people. Cast & Crew LIGHT/SOUND DESIGN - Scott Hasbrouck - Scott spent the last 15 years teaching high school theatre and working with various youth theatre programs. He built and developed curriculum for theatre at Golden High School and George Washington High School and was technical director for D'Evelyn Jr./Sr High for several years before that. Scott spent the last 12 summers at the Mizel Arts and Culture Center working with the youth of the Wolf Theatre Academy. He has worked professionally in the Denver area since the early '90s as an actor, director, stage manager, light designer, set designer, carpenter, sound designer, prop master, and stage hand. Venues have included the DCPA, The Ascot Dinner Theatre, The Changing Scene, Fiddler's Green, and The Denver Victorian Playhouse where he was theatre manager and technical director for five years. Scott has recently joined the ranks of theatre people with day jobs and works as a home inspector with Axium. All the gratitude and all the love to Kelly, his wonderful wife who tolerates all the crazy. They are excited to welcome their son, Fox, to the world of theatre. Scott’s life with his family and work in the schools has been motivated by a particularly poignant quote from one of his childhood heroes, Jim Henson: “We do not inherit the world from our parents, we borrow it from our children.” PRODUCER - Chris Oltyan - After years of serving as a liaison between giant squids and their hated bio-luminescent jellyfish neighbors, Chris Oltyan emerged from the watery depths to work in the video game industry for 12 years as a producer and designer. Eventually leaving that industry, he developed a terminal habit of starting companies, of which he is currently on his 9th. His famous last words were "Sure, we could make a production company, that sounds like fun. How hard could putting on a show be compared to video games or starting companies?" PROGRAM/PROPS - Kelly Hasbrouck - Kelly is thrilled to be involved in the theatre world again with BYP. With BA's in both Theatre and Interior Design, she has worked professionally in the Denver Metro theatre world for over 20 years as Technical Director of GMP Presents and The Edge Theatre, Assistant Theatre Coach for Golden High School, Set Designer for several theatres, Scenic Painter at the Mizel Arts & Cultural Center, extra hire set & props construction at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, numerous on-stage roles around town, and much more. Chasing after her and Scott's almost 3 year old son, Fox, has kept her very busy recently, along with starting her new career as a local Realtor. Kelly is truly looking forward to the future of BYP and is grateful to be a part of this crazy group of theatre lovers! Directors Note Welcome to Backyard Productions' inaugural presentation! If you read my bio elsewhere in this program, you will note that I claim to have 'grown up in a community theater.' What I mean by that, is that from the ages of 7 (Gretl in the Sound of Music) to 18 (Director, Night Watch), my life was shaped by the people I met and worked with at the McConnellstown Playhouse in McConnellstown, Pa. I learned technical skills, sure - how to project, block a scene, focus a light, sew a seam - but many of the lessons I learned in the theater were more fundamentally important than that. I learned about the value of hard work, determination, creativity, collaboration, and, most importantly, community.