  Picnic
by William Inge
March 23 ~ April 23, 2006
COM Theater sizzles with the summer romantic classic & Pulitzer Prize winning drama PICNIC
A warm summer moon filled night in a small Kansas town; where it appears nothing ever happens, is the backdrop of the play PICNIC by William Inge. However, life will never be the same when a handsome mysterious stranger jumps off a train and into the lives of its occupants turning their lives upside down...
Alex Ozburn plays Hal Carter with intense reality; a drifter from the wrong side of the tracks who evokes turmoil, smoldering sensuality and danger into the small tightly knit community.
Passion and conviction could be used to describe the performance of Jayne Furlong who plays Madge Owens, the small town beauty from a poor family who dreams of something more to stir her heart and her life than her well-to-do college boyfriend Alan Seymour.
Micahla Santina Vaccaro plays Madges mother, Flo Owens, capturing the fervent protection of her daughters and later exposing the heart beneath her armor. Flo uses Alan Seymour as the remedy for a successful future for Madge. She pressures Madge to use her beauty to cash in on the security a wealthy man can offer and forever discard the shame and shambles their no good father left her and the family as a legacy.
Millie is Madges younger sister, a tomboy who is coming of age and trying hard to become a woman. Holly Zahn nails the part of Millie Owens as she experiences poignant jealousy and takes courageous steps to compete with her sisters beauty. She is then thrown headlong into heartbreak, crashing not only into a vast range of emotions but disrupting the equilibrium of the family.
Julia Jay as the Owens comical next door neighbor Helen Potts is a delight. She lives alone with her aging bedridden mother and looks to all the happenings of the Owens household to fill her life. She takes in the handsome stranger as a boarder and is awakened, as if from sleep, by being in the presence of the handsome strangers vitality and virility.
Small events like a picnic take on special significance for Helen when she says, I feel sort of excited, Flo. I think we plan picnics just to give ourselves an excuse to let something thrilling and romantic happen to us. Chris Gonzalez sensitively portrays Alan Seymour, the romantic, attentive, big-hearted boyfriend of Madge Owens who struggles to understand his deep obsession with Madges beauty. He welcomes the new stranger, Hal Carter, only to end up in a reckless game that explodes in his face and brings the town to its knees.
Patty Tally gives a stellar performance as Rosemary Sydney, the funny, bawdy, sarcastic old maid schoolteacher that rents a room in Flo Owens house. She publicly throws off any worry of being alone for the rest of her life but as the day fades into evening and with another year of teaching looming before her she takes fate into her own hands. Her fade crumbles as she risks her reputation to exercise her demons of loneliness.
Bill Krause is a tease as Howard Bevens, Rosemarys middle-aged suitor; a raucous player who is just out for a goodtime and does not understand the power he holds over Rosemarys future and emotions. Kay Lunn and Andrea Hoekstra are entertaining as Rosemarys charming single friends and coworkers who long to find a man. The cast is rounded out by Robert Saylers who energetically plays the neighborhood paperboy. He needles Madge endlessly to date him while chiding Millie about her looks and awkward ways.
Picnic is a story of safety verses temptation that has earned its reputation as one of Americas greatest classic dramas.
Set designer Tom King beautifully captures the small town feel of the two backyards of Flo Owens and Helen Potts in rural Kansas on Labor Day weekend. Kelly Babbs sound design captures the intense emotions and feeling of the early 1950s era while bridging the show with music that reflects the 1940s sound that was popular in the older characters youth to mirror their longing for the gifts being young represents. Babbs lighting design is equally powerful, along with Kings design, in helping us to not just look on as the characters lives unfold but to make us feel as if we are really there. Amanda Bezemeks costume designs complement the line and style of the time period in small town America. The production stage manager is Patrick ONeal, fight choreographer is Terry Ogden and dance choreography is by Chantille Carroll.
About the play and the playwright
William Inge grew up in and was fascinated by the dynamics of small town life and consequently set many of his plays there. He said of small town life Ive often wondered how people raised in our great cities ever develop any knowledge of humankind. People who grow up in small towns get to know each other so much more closely than they do in cities.
PICNIC was first produced in Galveston Texas under William Inges first title for the play, FRONT PORCH. Later he rewrote the play under the title PICNIC. This version of the play won the Pulitzer Prize as well as The Drama Circle Award, The Outer Critics Circle Award and The Theater Club Award. Later he rewrote the play again and called it SUMMER BRAVE. In this version he changes the ending of PICNIC and claimed it is the story he always meant to write.
PICNIC continues to fascinate audiences and be produced in theaters across America. Inge was a master in taking the stillness of the small town and the ordinary common person and discovering the complexities of their lives. He created a mirror that when we look in it we see elements of ourselves and what binds us together as humans. Love, loneliness and the need to make a difference were all themes that Inge himself struggled to understand within himself and perhaps that is what makes his characters so true, alive and moving.
Dates & Times:
March 23-April 23, 2006
Thursday-Saturday at 8pm
Sunday at 2:30 pm
*There will be no performances Easter weekend.
Ticket Info:
Call 409-938-1211 or 1-888-258-8859 ext. 345
Location:
College of the Mainland Theater
1200 Amburn Rd
Texas City, TX 77591
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