Ellen Frankman
After this past weekend’s Independence Day buzz has finally died down, the talk of the East End may just turn to “Fifth of July,” a revival of a play at Bay Street Theatre written by Sag Harbor’s own Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson. Broadway’s Terry Kinney will direct.
“Fifth of July” follows the lives of a group of college friends and former activists as their lives cross paths at the Talley family home in rural Missouri. Set in 1977 amidst the morning after realizations of a post-Vietnam era, the play, part of Wilson’s famous Talley Trilogy (which also includes the plays “Talley’s Folly” and “Talley & Son”), features characters forced to reckon with the events of their past that have brought them together.
“It involves these friends re-examining their values and their expectations of what their lives have become,” explains Murphy Davis, Bay Street Theatre’s co-artistic director who helps select the plays performed at the theatre. He first saw “Fifth of July” on Broadway in the 1980s as a young twenty-something actor.
“Director Terry Kinney and Lanford Wilson share a real vision for the play. The sensibilities of Kinney and Wilson and Bay Street have meshed wonderfully,” Davis says from a production standpoint.
Though Wilson has previous experience working with the theatre (his play “Talley’s Folly” was performed there in 2002, as was another of his works, “Virgil Is Still the Frogboy” in 1996), the crew at Bay Street never tires of working with him.
“Lanford’s particular voice as a playwright is one that we consistently respond to,” remarks Davis. “The subject matter that he writes about always moves us and inspires us.”
And with new wars currently being waged in the lives of a new generation, a Sag Harbor production of “Fifth of July” will likely prove equally moving to audiences, many of whom face similar questions of the impressions made and questions raised by war and peace.
“We feel like it’s very pertinent and rings true to many things Americans are questioning today,” Davis states.
And in a play that is “really about family and ties to community and home,” Bay Street presents the perfect stage to grapple with such difficult yet relevant issues.
“I think the actual configuration of the Bay Street Theatre, because it is such an intimate theater … is an ideal space to present the play,” says Davis. “It lends itself to the play, you feel you are right there with the group of family and friends.”
“Fifth of July” is presented in co-production with the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Western Massachusetts, a factor that has resulted in a “wonderful collaboration between two not-for-profit theaters” notes Davis.
Though the content is serious and at times dramatic, “Fifth of July” nevertheless maintains a welcome comedic element that creates according to Davis, “one of the most moving comedies ever from an American playwright.”
“The community has responded in a very excited way,” Davis explains eagerly. “There is a real sense of support with the fact that we are producing this play.”
The cast includes David Wilson Barnes, Danny Deferrari, Kally Duling, Elizabeth Franz, Shane McRae, Anson Mount, Jennifer Mudge and Kellie Overbey.
Lanford Wilson’s “Fifth of July” began with previews at Bay Street Theatre on July 6. Shows are at 8 p.m. with opening night is Saturday, July 10. The play will run Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m., with matinees on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 4 p.m. except during preview week, through August 1. Tickets are $55/$65 and available by calling the box office at 725-9500. The theatre is located on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.
