A new production was brought to stage in Baton Rouge. 

Run by former Southeastern student artistic director Alicia Hanley, Bridge Nouveau Theatre Company, LLC brought to life the production of Landford Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning “Talley’s Folly.” 

Other former university students who worked on this production were: stage manager Kaci Davis, company publicist Tara Bennett, assistant director Stephen Vernando and stage carpenter Drew Zeringue. As a former theatre student, Hanley gives words of advice to current students at the university. 

“Although Southeastern has a fairly small theatre program compared to other universities, you can get more personalized teaching from great professors in a smaller setting,” said Hanley. “It allows for more opportunities to take on all kinds of theatre jobs in school productions.” 

Hanley recommends getting involved with independent studies as a student. 

“All of the theatre classes I took at Southeastern helped to prepare me in some way, but I think that independent study was the strongest catalyst for shaping the way I would form this company,” said Hanley. 

Hanleys’ independent study took place her senior year. It revolved around directing her own play, putting together her own team of actors and designers, finding a location to perform the play and finding the money to produce it. Hanley also stresses the importance of networking with people in the real world. 

“If you are graduating and stepping foot into the professional world, don’t ever underestimate the power of networking,” said Hanley. 

Although a romantic comedy, “Talley’s Folly” is not your typical love story. “Talley’s Folly” is about in depth themes such as dealing with loss and finding hope during World War II. According to Hanley, “The main characters, Matt and Sally, are not alone in their experiences in WWII. Many people in our community had relatives affected by the war.”

As a way to remember those involved with the war, Bridge Nouveau put together an art project to go along with the production. 

“As a way for the community to help share those experiences, we partnered up with Elevator Projects, an art group, in a project sponsored by a grant which is supported by the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge,” said Hanley. “We asked the community members to donate copies of pictures and letters they may have from relatives who were in WWII. We compiled these donations to create an art installation that went along with the production.” 

“Talley’s Folly” ran on stage from Jul. 7 through Jul. 9. If you would like to learn more about Bridge Nouveau, visit bridgenouveau.com or find them on Facebook.