Three things I know about “Picnic”:
1. There has never been a less deserving play to win the Pulitzer Prize.
2. You can’t cast the story’s dark, bad-boy interloper with an all-American boy type audiences will want to invite into their home, fill up with apple pie and pinch his cheeks.
3. And the planned 2010 Broadway revival will undoubtedly be a gigantic hit. Because for 56 years, America has always loved a “Picnic.”
Nevertheless, the only way William Inge’s steamy 1953 melodrama should earn a Pulitzer is if there are separate categories for poetry, drama … and trashy romances.
“Picnic” is about a handsome stranger who disrupts the lives of two sisters in a small Kansas town. The older is pretty but dumb; the younger is smart but tomboyish.
Someone’s gonna get hurt.
Expertly played, there is a lyricism and subtlety in Inge’s script, which has been hailed (by others) as a downright Chekovian treatise on small-town convention, constriction and despair. Hmm …
But “Our Town” it’s not. Madge Owens is engaged to the smart, safe and rich young Alan Seymour. Yet the same day his college jock friend Hal Carter hits town, his gal and his pal turn into carnal barnyard animals, much to the dismay of the widow Owens, swooning sister Millie and disapproving old maid Rosemary.
If anything, “Picnic” treads (lightly) into Tennessee Williams territory. It’s interesting that the three actors who deliver the most full-bodied performances in the Evergreen Players’ uneven new production also play the most emotionally pent-up characters.
That’s Stephen Swofford as the suitable suitor who’s coming to a slow boil as Madge slips through his hands. It’s Desiree Samler as Millie, the tough tomboy who’s allowing herself her first taste of womanhood. And most impressively it’s Jillann Tafel as Rosemary; a heartland Blanche Dubois who’s pathetically throwing herself at her last desperate chance for love as if into an oncoming locomotive. They’re all ready to burst.
But what director Michele Wright’s production delivers in emotional claustrophobia, it’s lacking in confidence and essential danger. The pace starts too slow. Much of the acting is surface, barely tapping the potential pathos.
That’s in part due to the disconnect of seeing the perfectly likable Kyle Beck as Hal. He’s supposed to be rough, a bum on the run who’s been to reform school. When Hal dances with the women of the town, it should feel dangerous. Remember, not even young blue eyes Paul Newman could land the role of Hal at first (he initially played Alan).
When Madge disappears with Hal, there should be panic for her safety. With his blond hair, pearly whites and polite charm, Beck’s Hal comes across instead as a far more agreeable catch than, say, the schlep Rosemary’s settling for. So rather than build to a primal catharsis, here the story just kind of plays itself out.
By the end every character, especially Madge, has been significantly changed. We just haven’t been witness to enough of the transformation to believe it.
That makes this “Picnic” a serviceable but safe afternoon at the park.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Picnic” ** (out of four stars)
Romace. Presented by Evergreen Players at Center Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive. Written by William Inge. Directed by Michele Wright. Through Nov. 15. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. $14-$18. 303-674-4934 or
