Picnic takes place in small-town Kansas on a balmy Labor Day weekend, in the adjoining yards of two middle-aged widows, one with two daughters, one caring for her ailing mother. It offers a view of “flyover” America that is far from dated. 

When Hal, a handsome, cocky young drifter arrives, he sends the women reeling, especially the beautiful homecoming queen Madge, resulting in a tug-of-war between the respectable tyranny of propriety and the acceptance of the mysterious forces of the heart. When Hal is forced out of town, Madge must decide whether their fleeting encounter is worth changing her life of quiet desperation.

In 1953 Picnic won both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Circle Award.  In this loving reimagining, director John Farmanesh-Bocca puts Inge’s play in the tumultuous 1960’s with an all black cast.

Read the Director’s Note | Read a Cast Member’s Note