The old adage “love is blind” is reaffirmed in the Theatre Department’s latest production — “Talley’s Folly,” an unlikely love story about a middle-aged Midwestern woman and an older Jewish accountant in the second World War. “Folly” is the Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Lanford Wilson and features only two actors, one set and no scene changes. “I’m drawn to shows that have good character relationships,” said director Chris Nelson. “[Character relationships] are one of my strengths as a director, and they compel me as an audience member.”Theatre senior Jason Duga plays the part of Matt Friedman, and theatre junior Wendy Bradford plays Friedman’s love Sally Talley.”You definitely have to have a fun director for this play,” Duga said. “After every rehearsal, we sit down together, and we make these wonderful discoveries about the play, the characters and the work we put into it.”Duga and Bradford were chosen by Nelson for “Talley’s Folly” from a large general audition the Theatre Department held at the beginning of the semester. “To get cast in a two-person show is like somebody saying, ‘I think you’re talented enough that I’m going to give you this play and that you can handle being on stage for 97 minutes,'” Duga said. “You really want to do a play like this in college because you really want to be challenged.”Because the “Folly” has such a small cast, the actors were given much more freedom than they would have in a cast with multiple members, Bradford said.”My favorite thing about this play is it comes from a really organic place,” Bradford said. “With a lot of directors, you do exactly what the director says, and it doesn’t really come from you or your character — in our rehearsals, Chris let us just go. We did whatever we felt, and it made me feel like I really got to participate in the creation of the play.”The relationship between the cast members is especially important in a two-person play because of the reliance they have on one another, Duga said.”It’s a great feeling to know that the other [actor] will always be there,” Duga said. “I always know where she is, and it’s kind of a crazy tug-of-war thing.””Talley’s Folly” runs at the Reilly Theatre from Nov. 10 to the 13 at 7:30 p.m. and with two performances on Nov. 15 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.—-Contact Emily Slack at [email protected]