Picnic | Essays and Criticism

  • How Inge's Play Forecasted Future Trends in Sexuality

    In this essay, Sheri E. Metzger discusses the manner in which Inge's play forecasted future trends in sexuality, particularly with regard to women in the entertainment world.

  • Hairy Fairy Tale

    In this review of a 1994 revival of Picnic, John Simon finds that several decades have not diminished the theatrical power of Inge's 1953 play. The critic praises the work for both its sharply drawn characters and its tangible sense of place, which he feels delivers ‘‘a sense of something pent-up longing to break out.’’

  • Review of Picnic in Commonweal

    Richard Hayes reviews the original 1953 production of Inge's play, labeling it a powerful work of drama. The critic praises the playwright's fictional world, finding it to have ‘‘more energy and vitality than that of any American dramatist of his generation.’’

  • Review of Picnic in the Nation

    Harold Clurman, one of the most respected critics of drama, reviews the 1953 production of Inge's play. He finds the acting and staging to be substandard, failing to do justice to the playwright's written text.