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Overview

Synopsis

On a sweltering Labor Day morning, the women of a quiet neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks are preparing for the annual picnic. Watchful mother Flo Owens has hopes that her beautiful daughter Madge will get a proposal from Alan, the local millionaire’s son. Younger sister Millie, the “smart one”, yearns to grow up and leave her small town behind. Good-natured Mrs. Potts is happy to get a break from taking care of her aged mother. And spinster schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney cheerfully keeps her boyfriend Howard at arms’ length. This seemingly placid feminine environment is disrupted when Hal Carter, a muscular and charming young drifter who happens to be a former fraternity brother of Alan’s, hops off the freight train, and straight into Mrs. Potts’ hospitable home. Hearts are broken and lives are changed in the following twenty-four hours, as Hal’s lively, dangerous, masculine energy wakes up the sleepy community. A small Kansas town in the 1950s is the setting for William Inge’s bittersweet melodrama Picnic, which explores themes of sexuality, repression, rites of passage, and disappointment.

Show Information

Category
Play
Age Guidance
Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
Number of Acts
3
First Produced
1953
Genres
Drama
Settings
Period, Unit/Single Set
Time & Place
1950s, a small town in kansas
Cast Size
medium
Licensor
Samuel French
Ideal For
College/University, Community Theatre, High School, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Male, Star Vehicle Female, Mostly Female Cast, Includes Young Adult, Adult, Late Teen, Mature Adult, Elderly, Early Teen Characters, Medium Cast

Context


Plot


Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

Hal Carter

Lead

Male

Spoken

Rosemary Sydney

Lead

Female

Spoken

Madge Owens

Lead

Female

Spoken

Flo Owens

Supporting

Female

Spoken

Millie Owens

Supporting

Female

Spoken

Helen Potts

Supporting

Female

Spoken

Alan Seymour

Supporting

Male

Spoken

Howard Bevans

Supporting

Male

Spoken

Christine Schoenwalder

Featured

Female

Spoken

Bomber

Featured

Male

Spoken

Irma Kronkite

Featured

Female

Spoken

Songs

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A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

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Scenes

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Key Terms

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Videos

Quizzes

Themes, Symbols & Motifs

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Quote Analysis

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