When William Inge’s play Picnic opened on Broadway in 1953, it received much popular and critical acclaim. In the post-World War II era, in the face of rising paranoia and fear of communism, the televisions that had become fixtures in American homes broadcast idealized portrayals of small-town family life with shows such as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Make Room for Daddy (1953), Leave it to Beaver (1957), and The Donna Reed Show (1958). The American Dream in the 1950s was to own a home and live in the suburbs with the perfect nuclear family. Post-war prosperity and cultural messaging encouraged Americans to procreate, creating more Americans and a more solid country. On Broadway, however, playwrights such as Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams presented a darker, more fragmented view of families in suburban America.

What made Picnic unique among these plays was its particular focus on the lives and desires of women within the context of small-town America. Young female characters who desperately wish for more in their lives drive the play’s action. The play is based on an earlier work by Inge called Front Porch (1952), which was a short, fragmented play about women of advancing age and the diminishing sphere of their lives and dreams. In Picnic, Inge adds the contrast of the next generation, full of the promise of youth but destined to ignore their mothers’ warnings and suffer from their own mistakes.

Picnic, which was only Inge’s second full-length play, was an early success in his career. The original Broadway production, featuring a young Paul Newman in his Broadway debut as Alan Seymour, ran for 477 performances on Broadway and enjoyed two subsequent revivals (in 1994 and 2013). Picnic earned Inge the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play of the Season in 1953. The 1955 film adaptation by Columbia Pictures received six Academy Award nominations, including two wins. In the 1950s, parents watched anxiously as their children rejected the quaint domesticity and limited opportunities of small towns in favor of 1960s counterculture. However, the generational struggles the play depicts transcend the time period, remaining relevant and keeping the play widely produced even many decades later.

Plot Summary

On Labor Day, the last day of summer vacation, a small Kansas town is getting ready for a picnic. The play is set in the neighboring backyards and porches of two houses. In one, Mrs. Helen Potts lives with her elderly mother. In the other, Flo Owens, a widow, raises two teenage daughters, Madge and Millie, and rents a room to an aging unmarried school teacher named Rosemary, who claims to prefer single life. Millie, the smart and talented younger sister, is jealous of her beautiful older sister Madge, who in turn envies Millie’s intelligence. Helen Potts has hired a young, handsome vagrant named Hal and given him work in exchange for food. Hal immediately falls for Madge (and vice versa), but Madge is seeing Alan, a young man from a wealthy family whom Madge’s mother is determined to see her marry. Flo distrusts Hal but reluctantly agrees to allow him to accompany Millie to the picnic upon learning that he is Alan’s fraternity brother.

Later that afternoon, Rosemary’s date, Howard, shows up while everyone is getting dressed. He brings an illegal bottle of whiskey and shares it with Rosemary (who protests at first) and Hal, who is anxious about how to behave at the picnic. Rosemary draws the others into dancing, and Hal dances with Madge until a drunk Rosemary tries to cut in. He declines and she belittles him. Meanwhile, Millie sneaks sips of whiskey and becomes sick. Flo is outraged, and both she and Alan blame Hal. Everyone except Madge, Rosemary, Howard, and Hal leave for the picnic. Rosemary, remorseful, asks Howard to take her somewhere other than the picnic. Alone, Madge and Hal kiss and also decide to go off alone.

Late that night, Rosemary and Howard return, apparently having had sex. Rosemary begs Howard to fulfill the promises he’s made and marry her. He tells her that he’ll call in the morning, which Rosemary doubts. Madge and Hal have been out in a parked car and possibly also had sex. They kiss, but both feel guilty for betraying Alan.

Early the next morning, Millie is ready for school, and Alan shows up after searching all night for Madge. Rosemary is packing, surrounded by friends. When Howard shows up, he is railroaded into an engagement and the couple leaves together. Alan forgives Madge and blames Hal, who he says has left. However, Hal then comes out of hiding and they fight. The police are searching for Hal because Alan accused him of stealing his car. Alan gives up on Madge, and Hal begs her to run away with him, telling her that he loves her. After Hal escapes, Madge decides to follow him to Tulsa, despite her mother begging her not to go.