"Talley's Folly" is the story of one night in the lives of two unlikely sweethearts, Matt Friedman and Sally Talley. The one-act play takes place in a dilapidated boathouse on the Talley farm in Missouri. It is the Fourth of July in 1944.

The play opens with Matt directly addressing the audience, telling them that the play will take 97 minutes and he hopes to capture and relate his story properly in that amount of time. Taking the time to point out some staging elements, he tells the audience that the gazebo-like structure next to him is called a folly, a Victorian boathouse, which has unfortunately fallen into disrepair.

While on vacation in Lebanon, Missouri the previous summer, Matt met Sally and has sent her a letter every day since. Replies from Sally gave him no hope for romantic encouragement, but he has bravely returned to ask...