Picnic
by William Inge

Name: Picnic
Brand: William Inge
SKU: 9780822208921
Rating: 3.83 (3943 reviews)

Broadway Off-Broadway

Highlights

Medium Cast

Female

Male

120 mins 1950s Ensemble Cast Exterior Set Period Costumes American

Awards & Recognition

Drama Critics Circle Pulitzer Prize Tony Award

Winner! 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winner! Two 1953 Tony Awards Winner! 1953 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play Nominee: Three 1994 Tony Awards

Synopsis

In the joint backyards of two widows during the Labor Day holiday in a small Kansas town in the 1950s, the appearance of a handsome outsider upends their life.

One house belongs to Flo Owens, who lives there with her two daughters, Madge and Millie, and a schoolteacher boarder.

The other house belongs to Helen Potts, who lives with her elderly invalid mother.

When the young man named Hal Carter takes a shine to Madge, their sudden passion for each other disrupts the mundane routines of both houses, causing long-dormant desires to explode with ramifications of love and heartbreak that no one expects.

This detailed portrait of women in their social environments won William Inge the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1953.

Press Reviews

"Few writers have captured women in their social environments as well as William Inge and it’s in that respect that Picnic, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953, retains its power."
— Curtain Up

"Inge writes warmly, with such sensitive, understated compassion about little people desperate for a place in a bigger world that his work is timeless."
— New York Observer

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Hal Carter A young vagabond	—	—	A young vagabond
Millie Owens 16, younger daughter of Flo	female	—	16, younger daughter of Flo
Bomber Gutzel The neighborhood paperboy	—	—	The neighborhood paperboy
Madge Owens Elder daughter of Flo; a beautiful girl	female	—	Elder daughter of Flo; a beautiful girl
Flo Owens Madge and Millie’s mother, Helen’s neighbor	female	—	Madge and Millie’s mother, Helen’s neighbor
Rosemary Sydney A schoolteacher renting a room in Flo’s house	—	—	A schoolteacher renting a room in Flo’s house
Alan Seymour Madge’s boyfriend	—	—	Madge’s boyfriend
Irma Kronkite A schoolteacher, a friend of Rosemary	—	—	A schoolteacher, a friend of Rosemary
Christine Schoenwalder A schoolteacher, a friend of Rosemary	—	—	A schoolteacher, a friend of Rosemary
Howard Bevans Rosemary’s boyfriend	—	—	Rosemary’s boyfriend
Helen Potts Flo’s neighbor	—	—	Flo’s neighbor