Writers' Theatre - The Picnic

After sending Manu to his new home and watching the Bears lose that terrible, terrible game, I went to Writers' Theatre to see their first show of the season: The Picnic, by William Inge.

The first thing one always notices at The Writer’s Theatre is the staging. They are founded on the principles of honoring the text and creating an intimate environment. This sometimes means that the actors could very well trip and land in your lap, but always means that the staging is creative. This time, in addition to the fancy, comfortable seating there was another section of audience chairs. They claimed it was to create a “theatre in the round”. I am very sorry to say it felt like a cheap ploy for selling more tickets.

The plot summary (from the web site):

When a charismatic young drifter arrives in a small Kansas town on the eve of a Labor Day picnic, the simmering repressions of its residents come rapidly to a boil. Frequently hilarious and profoundly moving, Inge’s masterpiece chronicles the hopes and despairs that lie between the realization of adulthood and the eternal optimism of youth.

This play had a broad spectrum of characters and I swear I recognized them all. Even the actors looked familiar – though when I checked the playbill I didn’t recognize any of the names. Anyway - I was absolutely interested in where it was going.

The women were rather…um…shrill…but whether that was from the text or the direction I don’t know. There was a part when Mrs. Potts, the least-shrill neighbor lady, is talking about having the drifter-guy over for breakfast. She was talking about how different the whole house feels when there is a man in it. All loud and stomping around and making a mess or whatever. As opposed to her regular “prim” space where you would notice a hatpin out of place. While there is nothing prim about my house of two women, that monologue held me – I got it. Even when the man is my kid brother, the whole place feels differently charged.

When I clicked over to their website to see if there was a picture I could steal, I found they are now posting clips from the shows. You can see them here. You might check out the one for Nixon’s Nixon, which they have revived for the fall on the old bookstore stage. While The Picnic is a really good show, between the two, Nixon’s Nixon is really the must-see if you are in the area.