William Inge
Drama Group
Picnic was indeed a play about women, but critics disagree as to what writer William Inge was actually tying to say about them. Inge said he based the play on the women he'd known growing up. His mother owned a boarding house in Kansas, and Inge's house was often filled with single women, many living in the house were teachers and Ingle remembers how nice they were to him.
Marshall College
'I liked them. I saw their attempts, and, even as a child, I sensed every woman’s failure. I began to sense the sorrow and the emptiness in their lives, and it touched me '
Putnam County Playhouse
Other critics, especially those looking back on the play, saw women being portrayed as useless, unless of course they were young, pretty and not too smart. Roger Ebert, in a review in 1996 after the film was restored, says that in the time and place of Picnic, Inge's was actually commenting on the utter irrelevance of woman.
It was reported that Inge didn't handle critical feedback of his work well, interesting as he began his own career as a drama critic at the St. Louis Star-Times in 1943. It was with the encouragement of Tennessee Williams that Inge wrote his first play, Farther Off from Heaven in 1947.
Of course as many unique female characters occupy the neighborhood in Picnic, it's the men that stand out. Issues of sexual desire and Hal Carter's raw sexuality are also a main theme, and homoerotic themes are also explored with the relationship between Hal and Alan in many later productions.
'Hal Carter and Alan Seymour: Dueling images of burgeoning male sexuality. "Hal, I think, is what you hope for, and Alan is often what you wind up with. Hal is the dream fuck, the man who can take care of the car and the house and the lubricious needs of the lady of the house. However, the bills will never be paid on time and his eye will forever wander. Still, there are women always willing to enter this contract.
Alan is the man the mother wants you to marry: He comes from good people; the homes and the cars are impeccable and get attention; the children and the future will glisten. But, but...there is no sparkle, no click, no passion. Daughters will always go where their hearts--or some other organ--take them. Poems and lives are not crafted from common sense, in love or anything else.'
Elia Kazan
American Airlines Theatre
'Inge devotes the first act of Picnic to laying out his theme that raw male sexuality is not only taboo, but dangerous. The first scene appearance of the shirtless Hal injects that sexuality into the women's world, and by the end of the play it has ruined their lives. Inge shows that while the handsome, sexual male can be idolized for his physical prowess, he can never be fully accepted into society.'
Robert Woods
Writers Theatre
These issues are often attributed to Inge's own homosexuality, and years of struggling and remaining in the closet. Inge was often seen publicly with women, and seemed like when others thought the relationship was romantic. This was especially true with his longtime friend, actress Barbara Baxley.
Dallas Theatre
'Bill wanted love from a man but it had to be a gentleman. He wanted love from me but it had to be sweet affection not physical love. The times we tried physical love failed, so we were very happy with loving regard for one another. He used to sit… and hold me like a child. '
Barbara Baxley,
Haulston Mann
Privately, it was reported that Inge was miserable. His shame over his sexuality led to another long struggle with alcoholism. Even after decades of success, including acclaim for his writing, Ingle never seemed truly happy. In addition to Picnic, Ingle is know for writing Come Back Little Sheba, Bus Stop, Splendor in the Grass and Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff. (which I featured HERE:) \Sadly, Inge died of suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on June 10, 1973, at the Hollywood home he shared with his sister, Helene. I hope at some point in his 60 spins around the sun, he had the opportunity to have physically had a Hal, even if just for awhile.
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