Pewter Plough stages 'Picnic' 

William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Picnic, details how one Kansas family is shaken up by a young, out-of-work drifter who wanders into town. As the story goes, our mysterious vagabond forms a connection with the family’s two teenage daughters, and although mama’s suspicious of him, he’s invited to the town picnic. 

The play debuted in 1953 at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, yet still captures imaginations today. The original Theatre Guild production, directed by Joshua Logan, ran for 477 performances with an original cast featuring Ralph Meeker, Eileen Heckart, Arthur O’Connell, Janice Rule, Reta Shaw, Kim Stanley, and (totally gorgeous) Paul Newman. 

Thanks to the play’s success, Inge took home a 1953 Pulitzer Prize for drama, and Logan received a Tony Award for Best Director. The production also won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play of the season. 

Preview night is Friday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $17. The Pewter Plough Playhouse, “the jewel box of community theatres,” is located at 824 Main Street, at the corner Sheffield St. in Cambria’s West Village. 

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to pewterploughplayhouse.org or contact Box Office for reservations at 927-3877.