Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937 - March 24, 2011) was born in Lebanon, MO which serves as the setting for many of his plays, including Talley’s Folly. His parents divorced when he was young, and he then lived with his mother in Springfield, MO and Ozark, MO for much of his childhood. He began writing short stories after taking a writing class at San Diego State College, but it wasn’t until he moved to Chicago in the late 1950s that he began experimenting with playwriting. 

 

In 1962, Wilson moved to New York City and was not initially impressed with the work being produced on Broadway. He found his artistic home in the more experimental theaters that populated the Off and Off-Off Broadway scene. His works were produced in venues like Caffe Cino and Judson Church in Greenwich Village, and La MaMa in the East Village. Wilson co-founded the Circle Repertory Company in 1969 with Rob Thirkield, Tanya Berezin and Marshall Mason. Throughout it’s 27 years, the theater produced shows by prominent playwrights including Craig Lucas, Sam Shepard, and Paula Vogel. 

 

Wilson’s playwriting style has been described as “lyric realism.” Marshall Mason, a director who worked on over 50 productions with Wilson throughout his career stated, “It’s not something Lanford invented, but it is something he happens to do awfully well. It’s a kind of realism that I feel is the voice of the native American theater, but it is realism that is elevated in its language. It takes the language people speak and makes it more musical.” Wilson himself said, “I write what’s in the air.” He often wrote about marginalized people on the fringes of society, and was one of the earliest popular playwrights to feature gay and lesbian characters in major roles. Wilson is often compared to the playwright Tennessee Williams due to similarities in their writing style and central themes, including the conflict between one’s past and present. Wilson himself, however, would not accept this comparison, and stated in an interview, “I don’t compare myself to Tennessee Williams, no, thank you. We’re talking Tennessee Williams. He’s great, and I’m not.”

 

Despite his initial ambivalence towards Broadway, Wilson had six shows during his career that were produced on the Great White Way; The Gingham Dog, Burn This, Redwood Curtain, Fifth of July, Talley’s Folly, and Angels Fall. The latter three for which Wilson was nominated for a Tony Award. Wilson achieved numerous accolades during his long career as a playwright. Among them were the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award (2004) for his full body of work and an Artistic Achievement Award during the New York Innovative Theatre Awards (2010), which honored his lifelong commitment to the Off-Off Broadway community.