FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 26, 2005

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE THEATRE TO PRESENT AWARD-WINNING DRAMA ‘PICNIC’

On Thursday, Nov. 10, Drake University Theatre will present William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Picnic,” which revolves around a drifter who roams into a small town in Kansas and changes the lives of everyone he encounters.

The play, set in the 1950s, focuses on the Owens family and their neighbors as they plan an end-of-summer picnic. When Hal Carter, a handsome drifter, moves in next door, his presence reveals the gaps in their contentment.

“So much of happiness is tied up in whom we choose to love, but so often we choose unwisely,” said director Deena Conley, Drake assistant professor of theatre arts. “The young chase dreams, while their elders realize their dreams have quietly slipped away.”

Conley will speak at a Pre-Theater Dinner and TalkAbout at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in the Cowles Library Reading Room, 28th Street and University Avenue. Tickets for the event, sponsored by Friends of Drake Arts, are $20 for the dinner and that night’s show. For reservations, call (515) 271-3147 by Friday, Nov. 4.

Inge is one of the Midwest’s greatest playwrights. He was born in Independence, Kan., and educated at the University of Kansas, and his works often reflected small-town life. He began his career as theater critic for the St. Louis Times, but a meeting with Tennessee Williams inspired him to write his own plays.

“Picnic,” first produced in 1953, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Drama Critics Circle Award, the Outer Circle Award and the Theatre Club Award. His other best known works include “Come Back, Little Sheba,” “Bus Stop,” and the screenplay “Splendor in the Grass,” which won an Academy Award.

Drake’s performances of “Picnic” start at 8 p.m. Nov. 10, 11 and 12 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in the Performing Arts Hall, Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue. Tickets, which are $6 for the general public and $4 for students and senior citizens, are available at the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at (515) 271-3841. This production contains smoking and adult themes that may be unsuitable for children.

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