'Picnic' to be performed at CCU from Feb. 5 through 14
"Picnic" is a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about middle-class America on a Labor Day weekend and takes place in the joint backyards of two women whose husbands left long ago. Seasonal changes are on the horizon and brought into focus on a quiet summer day as theatergoers experience the coming-of-age of Inge's finely wrought characters. The lives of Flo Owens and her two teenage daughters, Millie and Madge; Rosemary Sydney, a spinster school teacher who rents a room in the Owens' house; Helen Potts, who lives with her elderly and invalid mother; and Alan Seymour, Madge's "steady"; are impacted by the stranger in town, Hal Carter, an out-of-work drifter whose animal vitality upsets the balance of the quiet summer day.
The play was first performed on Broadway in 1953 and was adapted into a motion picture in 1955 staring William Holden and Kim Novak. CCU's production is directed by Monica Bell, associate professor and head of acting for CCU's department of theatre.
Performances are set for Thursday, Feb. 5, through Saturday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 11, through Friday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m., with double shows at 3 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.
The production will feature two student casts, one of which will reflect the African American experience in 1953. The casts will perform on alternating nights. On Feb. 5,, Feb.7, Feb. 12, and the 3 p.m. matinee on Feb. 14, the cast features: Myisha Thomas, Korinny Sanchez, Keondra Walker, Miranda Frederick, Nate Quetel, Benjamin Billand, Miquela Rivers, DeJuan Thompson, Grant Zavitkovsky, Domenique Smith and Sydney Copeland Goodman.
The Feb. 6, Feb. 11, Feb. 13 and the Feb. 14 evening performances will feature: Brianne Campbell, Izabel Dorst, Karli Cole, Brantley Ivey, Cody Taylor, JP McLaurin, Emily Peiffer, Duncan Overby, Michael Golino, Emeline Phinney and Megan Groves.
The Edwards Theatre is located in the Thomas W. and Robert W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at 133 Chanticleer Drive East on CCU's campus.
General admission is $15. Senior Citizens, OLLI members, alumni, teens, and CCU and HGTC faculty and staff are $10. CCU and HGTC students and children are $5.
For tickets, call the Wheelwright Box Office at 843-349-ARTS (2787) or visit www.ticketreturn.com.