The well-made play, much deprecated by hip modernists, still crops up frequently and often very entertainingly. A durable survivor, William Inge's Picnic, which won a Pulitzer prize in 1953, is now at the intimate Focus Theatre, and it still retains a dramatic punch.
The playwright's concern, in this and other successful plays, was with the inner and emotional lives of ordinary people. Picnic is set in a small Kansas town, ruled by social conventions. Flo Owens, a widow, has her daughters nicely organised. The beauty, Madge, is headed for marriage with a good catch, and bright-if-plain Millie is doing well at her studies.
Then a drifter, of the kind that would now be called a hunk, comes by. Hal once attended the local college on a football scholarship, but drop ped out and has been a loser ever since. Despite his former friendship with Madge's guy, Alan, he is attracted to her, and serious complications ensue. Around this central story, other sub-plots revolve, notably the trauma of a schoolteacher in dread of spinsterhood and her droll shopkeeper beau.
By the ending, the characters have been stripped down to their psychic bones. It is easy to empathise with them, to enter into the truth of their situations, and a good ensemble brings them to life with real conviction. Aoibhinn Gilroy is an actress who can effortlessly convey a range of emotions, and her Madge gets to the heart of the matter. Gavin O'Connor looks and sounds right as Hal, Colin Rothery is excellent as the defeated Alan and Mariosa de Faoite is a pert Millie.
Others to shine are Guy Carleton, Stephanie Dunne, Margaret Toomey, Aileen Fennell and Paul Keeley. Brian de Salvo's direction ties it all together with conviction and Carmel Nugent's realistic design, of two timber housefronts with a joint yard area, provides a persuasive setting. As oldies go, this one is from the golden school.
Continues until November 15th; booking on 01-6763071