Picnic
At Writer's Theater in Glencoe Director David Cromer has crafted a first-rate, moving version of William Inge's three-act American classic, Picnic.
Set in a small Kansas town during the Depression, on the eve of Labor Day, the plot is about what happens to the women in two houses when handsome Hal the hunky drifter shows up, and as a catalyst will do, sets off a chemical chain reaction among them. It's not exactly the happiest of stories despite the happy connotations of the title, but it is a touching and wise story about longing and loss, choices made, repetition of cycles and coming of age.
It won a Pulitzer Prize after opening in 1953 and it holds up today - in no small part because of the stylish production Writers' Theater has given it. For starters the set is wonderful, parked amidships in the theater space, it is a marvel of suggested realism: adjoining backyards in a non-too-ritzy small town.
On one side live an aging spinster and her unseen aged mother. On the other live Madge and Millie - rival adolescent siblings - their mother and the schoolteacher who rents a room. When the spinster feeds and hires drifter Hal to do odd jobs, each of the women reacts to him in her own way and along the way lives are altered.
As the story of the story goes, Inge's original vision for the play was so bleak that director Joshua Logan prodded him into something that was at least ambiguous and even possibly happy for one of the woman. Scholars can argue about which is the better version, the one Logan got, or the "final" version put out by Inge nine years later. For me, the version I saw I saw in Glencoe works just fine: it is thoughtful, affecting and touching.
The ensemble put together for this production is outstanding, particularly the women. Most of their performances deserve special mention. Hanna Dworkin as Rosemary the roomer is especially strong. So are Hillary Clemens as ugly-duckling Millie and Bridgette Pechman as her pretty-as-a-picture-but-dying-inside sis, Madge. Natasha Lowe is brilliant as their long-suffering mother, torn between her own failed dreams and the hopes she has for her daughters. Annabel Armour is absolutely dead on as the spinster neighbor.
Marc Grapey is great -- funny and sharp -- as the notions store owner who courts and finally is caught by the desperate teacher. Robert Fagin makes a good Alan, the boring "good" potential mate for pretty Madge. He manages to convey an earnest, shallow naivete with apparent ease.
For me the one slightly flat note in the lovely music the ensemble makes is Hal, played by Boyd Harris. He is very pretty and he works hard at being the virile young stud, but sometimes it seems he is working a little too hard. There is too much tension in his taut bod and not enough charm.
Even so, my complaint is minor against the considerable charms of the production taken as a whole. This Picnic is really well done, definitely worth going on. You'll find yourself coming back to snack on it well after you have left the theater.
"Picnic" runs at the Writers’ Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe through Nov. 16: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30; Thursdays and Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 4 and 8 and Sundays at 2 and 6. There are three Wednesday matinees scheduled during the run. Tickets range from $50 to $65. 847-242-6000. Or www.writerstheater.org
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