NEWS from the "carpeted side of the footlights"

Prior to rehearsals, an excursion to Independence, Kansas was planned as a research project to prepare Picnic. Two of our exceptional leading actors, Tim Moyer (in the Howard Bevans role) and Hayden Saunier (our Rosemary Sydney) joined me for an important and exciting adventure to the boyhood home of author, William Inge. This extraordinary opportunity gave us near exclusive rights to the William Inge Center for the Arts, the Inge Reading Room (that houses the private collection of Inge materials, manuscripts and artifacts) and the Inge Homestead that is well know for inspiring, not only his plays, but also his film, Splendor in the Grass, an Oscar winner for Best Picture.

In the Reading Room, we were given freedom to handle all of Inge’s personal items and belongings. At my request, curator Marcel LaFlamme presented me with every original script and onionskin sheet of paper that Inge had personally scrolled through his typewriter, as well as anything that was remotely connected to the final draft of Picnic. Along with these drafts, he also gave to me precious similar originals of Bus Stop, Come Back, Little Sheba and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

In the midst of this intensive study, the three of us carefully listened to audio tapes of William Inge describing the daunting process of producing his plays for Broadway, and an interview with Joshua Logan, the famed director, detailing his discussions with Inge on what adjustments were needed to make a beautifully structured, but flawed Picnic into a massive hit.

At the time, the working title for the play was Front Porch and was delivered to Josh Logan before the name was ultimately changed. There was also a precursor script with many ideas that made their way into Front Porch called The Man in Boots (1949). The iconic character of Hal in this version was named “Buck” Rodgers, and instead of a vagabond/drifter, this part was written as a shoe salesman, of all things.

Our understanding is that Logan (who also directed the movie version of Picnic), along with the producers, asked that the title be changed for two reasons. One was that the thrust of the play was based on a Labor Day holiday and “picnic” gathering and, more importantly, that the word “picnic” was pleasant and easy to remember and could serve as a popular title amongst the masses of potential theatergoers. Inge agreed, although when it came to opening the play in New York, Logan asked for another, much more significant change . . . the ending of the play. Mildly speaking, after careful, strategic coaxing, Logan was successful in convincing Inge to begrudgingly make the rewrite. This revision to the end of Picnic is, as Inge scholar Ralph Voos told me, the real reason Mr. Inge won the Pulitzer Prize.

Without question, visiting the home of William Inge was the highlight of the trip. This gentle and inviting abode houses the playwrights-in-residence at the Inge Center. To sit on the impressive wrap-around front porch that IS the Picnic set, to caress the handrail of the staircase that planted the creative seed that launched The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and to stand in the front yard viewing the neighbor’s home that helped to create the character of Mrs. Coffman from Come Back, Little Sheba was simply exhilarating.

Many thanks to Peter Ellenstein, the Artistic Director of the Inge Center and to Inge Center Associate, Bruce Peterson. Special recognition goes to Fran Kumin and the Philadelphia Theater Initiative for making this remarkable project entirely possible. What a rich and rewarding happening. What a great experience to share with you. Please ask. There’s lots more to tell . . . from the carpeted side of the footlights.

Tom Quinn