Buena Vista University Theatre Presents "Picnic"

November 8, 2014

Buena Vista University Theatre presented "Picnic" by William Inge in November. The play was directed by Dr. Michael Whitlatch, professor of theatre, with technical direction by David Grant Walker, assistant professor of theatre, and costume coordination by Dr. Bethany Larson, associate professor of theatre.

"Picnic" is set on Labor Day weekend in the joint backyards of two middle-aged widows in a small Kansas town. Flo Owens lives in one house with her two daughters, Madge and Millie, and a boarder who is a spinster schoolteacher. Helen Potts lives in the other house with her invalid mother. One day, Hal Carter enters the scene, and changes the women's lives. A winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Critic's Circle Award, "Picnic" remains a moving piece that shows how longings and desires can shape a person's life and is a realistic examination of unfilled dreams and the conditions faced by many women in the 1950s.

"‘Picnic' has a realistic surface, but underneath this surface, we see the longings and fears of the women in the play. The play manages to convey a sense of the terrible loneliness and frustrations of ordinary life," said Dr. Whitlatch. "The characters in ‘Picnic' long to escape, and the call of the passing trains suggest a future that is slowly slipping away from the inhabitants of this small town in the middle of Kansas. The author shows a great deal of respect for the daily living and lives the inhabitants of his plays have carved out for themselves."

The cast:

• Helen Potts – Makenzie Mauntler, a junior graphic design and visual communications major from Glenville, Minn.
• Hal Carter – Austin Delp, a junior English secondary education and theatre major from Alta
• Millie Owens – Claire Boston, a sophomore theatre and digital media major from Cedar Rapids
• Bomber – Jacob Amhof, a junior music and music production and technology major from Fort Dodge
• Madge Owens – Katalina Ford, a sophomore digital media and art major from Alta
• Flo Owens – Nicole Boysen, a junior English major from Danbury
• Rosemary Sydney – Michelle Eccher, a junior elementary education major from Fonda
• Alan Seymour – Kyle Wiebers, a freshman psychology and criminology and criminal justice major from Cedar Falls
• Irma Kronkite – Emily Johnson, a sophomore digital media major from Storm Lake
• Christine Schoenwalder – Sarah Mackey, a freshman mathematics major from Center Point
• Howard Bevans – Erik Wolf, a sophomore digital media major from Central City