GCT Productions

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Picnic

William Inge
Directed by: Morgana Shaw
Performances: October 6-29, 2005

We are proud to be able to bring you this Pulitzer Prize-winning play by the author of such masterful works as Bus Stop, Come Back, Little Sheba, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

GARLAND, TEXAS –Friday, October 7, Garland Civic Theatre opened its production of William Inge’s prize winning play, “Picnic”. The cast includes Mary Ellen Alexander (Helen Potts), Bailey Boyd (Madge Owens), Michael Crabtree (Howard Bevans), Chase DeMoss (Hal Carter), Elizabeth Dukes (Christine Schoenwalder), Midge Hill (Rosemary Sydney), Mary Lyons (Flo Owens), Nolan McDermott (Bomber Gutzel), Margaret Miller (Irma Kronkite), Victoria Time (Millie Owens), and Jimmi Wright (Alan Seymour). Michael Crabtree, who played Hal Carter in a GCT “Picnic” production 25 years ago, is appearing as Howard Bevans this time.
The production was directed by nationally acclaimed, Morgana Shaw. Designers include Theresa Clapper (the set), Ricky Long (the lights), and Celeste Rogers (the costumes).

The play takes place on Labor Day weekend in the joint back yards of two widows. The one house belongs to Flo Owens, who lives there with her two maturing daughters, Madge and Millie, and a boarder, Rosemary Sydney, who is a spinster school teacher. The other house belongs to Helen Potts, who lives with her elderly and invalid mother. Into this female atmosphere comes a young man named Hal Carter, whose animal vitality seriously upsets the entire group. Hal is a most interesting character, a child of parents who ignored him, self-conscious of his failings and his position behind the eight ball. Flo is sensitively wary of temptations for her daughters. Madge, bored with being only a beauty, sacrifices her chances for a wealthy marriage for the excitement Hal promises. Her sister, Millie, finds her balance for the first time through the stranger’s brief attention. Rosemary is stirred to make an issue out of the dangling courtship with Howard Bevans. Picnic was winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and the Critics Circle Award

Performances will be October 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29 at 8:00 PM and October 16, 23, and 17 at 2:00 PM in the small theatre at the Granville Arts Center, 300 North Fifth Street in downtown Garland, Texas. Tickets are $19.00 to $20.00 with discounts for seniors, students, and groups. Call the box office at the arts center, 972-205-2790, to reserve your tickets. Be aware that the arts center adds a service charge. Show your DART Rail ticket to receive a discount when you buy your ticket before the performance. The box office opens 2.5 hours before each performance.