What is the author's style in Talley's Folly by Lanford Wilson?

Although the play can stand on its own, many readers of Talley's Folly begin with some knowledge of Sally and Matt and the Talley family. When Talley's Folly opened, many in the audience had already seen the popular Fifth of July, which Wilson wrote before Talley's Folly but which takes place thirty-three years later. Many readers today have also encountered the third Talley play, Talley & Son, which takes place up at the Talley house on the same evening that Matt and Sally are in the boathouse.

A reader approaching Talley's Folly hopes and perhaps expects that Matt and Sally will come together in the end, but those who have experienced the other plays know it will happen. During Talley & Son, Sally comes up to the house to pack before eloping. Aunt Charlotte speaks with Sally, and persuades her to try to leave without telling anyone, but Sally and her father, Eldon Talley, do see each other before she leaves. Eldon, surprisingly, allows Sally to leave with Matt, telling her that he hopes she is not making a mistake. Years later, Sally reappears in Fifth of July, preparing to bury Matt's ashes. She and Matt were married and were happy together until death parted them.

Those coming to Talley's Folly without the benefit of the other Talley plays enjoy watching two fragile "eggs" find strength in each other. For those who have met the Talleys before, the pleasure is of a different kind: it is the pleasure of hearing old stories about old friends.