Picnic

The play takes place on and around the neighboring back porches of two modest but well-kept homes in a small Kansas town. On the right, a widow of about 40 years old, Mrs. Flo Owens, lives with her two teenage daughters, Millie and Madge. In the house on the left, an older widow, Mrs. Helen Potts, lives with her elderly mother. A handmade sign advertises rooms to let.

The action of the play begins on Labor Day. Helen enters, followed by Hal Carter, a good-looking young drifter who is doing chores for her. Hal is embarrassed that he had to ask Helen for breakfast and declines to remove his jacket because his shirt is dirty. Helen offers to wash it, and Hal sheepishly agrees, following her into the house. Millie Owens, who is 16, enters from the Owens’ house. She hears a bicycle bell and hurries to sit on the steps and light a cigarette.

Bomber, the newsboy, throws the paper loudly onto the porch, hoping to rouse Millie’s sister. Millie teases him, and Bomber tells her to go back inside and send out her “pretty sister,” adding, “It’s no fun looking at you” and calling her “Goonface” (8). Furious, Millie attacks him but Bomber evades her. Madge, who is 18 and beautiful, steps onto the porch, towel-drying her hair. Bomber greets her eagerly, asking her to let him take her out on Friday. Madge politely declines, but Bomber continues to wheedle. Hal intercedes, telling Bomber to leave. Bomber postures until he realizes that Hal is bigger than him and runs off. Madge and Hal exchange a shy “hi” and a smile. Flo Owens enters, and Millie extinguishes her cigarette quickly.

Flo sits with her sewing kit and works on Madge’s new dress, hurrying Hal along. Before he goes, he expresses admiring surprise that Flo is Madge and Millie’s mother. Flo complains about Helen bringing home “another tramp” (10). Millie insists that he “wasn’t doing any harm” (10), but Flo replies, “I bet he’d like to” (10). Flo asks about Alan, who Millie explains will soon arrive to take them swimming. Flo urges Madge to call and tell him that he should use his father’s “influence at the City Hall” to hold the best table for them at the Labor Day picnic (10). Madge objects, but Flo pushes. A train whistles in the distance. Madge exclaims that she feels as if the train might carry someone who will see her working at the dime store and give her a thrilling job. Millie says that the train makes her think about getting out of the town, although Flo points out that the train only goes to Tulsa.

Flo ushers Millie into the house in order to speak with Madge. She asks about Madge’s dates with Alan and whether he pressures her to do more than kiss. Flo notes that marrying Alan would give Madge a good life because Alan is wealthy. Madge replies, “Mom, I don’t feel right with those people” (12), but Flo pushes her to try harder: She doesn’t have much time before Alan leaves to go back to school or before her youth and beauty begins to fade. Flo holds up Madge’s new dress. Millie enters, expresses envy over the dress, and sits down to draw in a sketchpad. Madge comments that Alan has offered to find Millie a date for the picnic. Millie rejects the idea of going out with “any of these crazy boys in town” (13), and Madge exclaims, “Beggars can’t be choosers!” (13).

Flo chides Madge, but Madge insists that Millie can’t complain about no one wanting to spend time with her when she smells dirty and refuses to dress up. Millie mocks Madge, calling her pretty but so stupid that she only graduated high school because she cried to a male teacher. Madge denies this and calls Millie a “goon.” Enraged, Millie calls her a “slut,” and they fight, hitting each other and pulling hair. Flo scolds them and they stop. Millie is upset, and Flo points out that she said worse things to Madge than Madge did to her. In tears, Millie asserts that names don’t hurt Madge’s feelings because Madge is the beautiful one. She storms off, and Madge complains that she’s tired of everyone feeling sorry for Millie when Millie won a full college scholarship. Madge accuses Flo of loving Millie more than her. Flo reassures her daughter that this isn’t true. When Madge was born, her father was present and doted on her, but by the time Millie was born, their marriage was falling apart and he wasn’t around very much. Madge points out that Flo loved their father, and Flo replies, “It takes a lot more than love to keep people happy” (14).

Madge wonders, “What good is it to be pretty?” (14), and Flo explains, “Pretty things […] they’re like billboards telling us that life is good” (15). Madge argues that just being pretty isn’t such a good thing. Hal enters, bare-chested, to ask Flo’s permission to light a fire. Flo jumps up to keep Madge from seeing him and frostily agrees to the fire. Embarrassed, Hal exits. Flo grumbles about his forwardness, and Madge comments that she had known when she met Hal that Flo would hate him. Madge “wonder[s] what he’s like” (15), and Flo responds, “I know what he’s like” (15). Rosemary Sydney, a schoolteacher who rents a room from the Owens, joins them on the porch and applies face cream. Rosemary jokes about expecting a letter from a man she met at the school picnic but adds that she doesn’t have time to be interested in men. Flo carps about Hal working “naked” and Millie rushes to look. Flo reprimands her and Millie exclaims that the boys wear less than Hal to go swimming.

Madge agrees to let Millie use her manicure kit, and Rosemary muses that Millie must be painting her nails for some boy. Millie denies this vehemently. Flo sends Madge to try on her dress. Helen enters, followed by a bashful Hal, but she exits quickly when her mother shouts for her. Rosemary asks why she doesn’t put her mother in a nursing home, but Flo explains, “She’s too mean” (17); she even forced Helen to annul her marriage when she eloped as a young woman. Flo muses that Helen only keeps her married name to spite her mother.

Alan enters and greets the women. Helen returns and asks if they have seen “the handsome young man” who is working for her (18). When Flo complains about Helen “taking in […] riff-raff” (18), Helen protests that Hal has been to more than one college and even knows Alan. Flo sends Alan to fetch Madge. Rosemary teases Helen about having “a new boy friend” (19), but Helen isn’t amused by the suggestion.

Alan and Madge reenter together and Flo jokes that they look like a bride and groom. Alan asks Millie about the book she’s reading, and she tells him that it’s Ballad of the Sad Café. Rosemary is aghast that Millie is reading a “filthy” book about “degenerates” (19), which Millie denies, refusing to hand Flo the book when she asks. Alan notes that the book is assigned frequently on college reading lists, but Flo retorts, “Well, those college professors don’t have any morals!” (20). She complains about Millie’s taste, describing the Picasso that she hangs near her bed, which Millie defends: “Pictures don’t have to be pretty!” (20). A sudden explosion sets everyone on edge, and Flo cries that Hal must have a gun. Helen realizes abashedly that she thoughtlessly tossed a bottle full of cleaning solution into the trash that Hal is burning.

Madge, Flo, and Rosemary go into the house, and Helen enlists Millie to help her. Alan recognizes Hal’s voice, and the two greet each other with excitement, joking about their time as fraternity brothers. When they last saw each other, Alan had loaned Hal $100 to go to Hollywood and become a movie star. Hal had gone far in the screen-testing process but was eventually told he’d need to have his teeth pulled and replaced. Hal worked hard in Nevada to earn money and came to Kansas to pay Alan back. However, he admits with embarrassment that two women in a flashy car robbed him, partying with Hal and then stealing his money at gunpoint.

Hal explains that he always envied Alan for being intelligent and having his life together, but he appreciated that Alan was the only fraternity member who treated him like a person. Hal’s father drank heavily and died in jail, and his mother took the gas station that he had owned and left to Hal. Hal wanted to wait until he was cleaned up to see Alan but hopes that Alan and his father could give him an office job: “I’ve always had the feeling, if I just had the chance, I could set the whole world on fire” (25). Alan comments that perhaps Hal needs to have patience and work hard. Helen enters, and Alan suggests that he take a job working on the pipeline. Hal agrees, kisses Helen, and exits to take a shower.

Rosemary enters in a new dress, stating that as a single schoolteacher, she has money to buy herself things and doesn’t have to ask permission. Irma, a fellow schoolteacher, arrives with a newly hired teacher, Christine, to accompany Rosemary to a faculty lunch. The women greet each other and make introductions. Hal and Millie enter, boxing playfully, and Flo is shocked to learn that Hal is Alan’s fraternity brother. Alan invites Hal to go swimming with them, and Helen suggests that they invite Hal to the picnic as a date for Millie. Hal hesitates, but Helen insists. Alan calls Hal over to meet Madge, “the most beautiful girl in town” (29). Millie beckons the others to go swimming, but Flo protests that Madge needs to stay behind and make lunch. Hal and Millie run off, racing each other. Alan explains to Flo that Alan had a rough life and came to school on a football scholarship. He promises that Hal is safe and that he’ll keep an eye on Millie at the picnic. Madge exclaims, “Mom, Millie can take care of herself” (31). Flo and Helen go into the house.

Alone with Madge, Alan apologizes that his father is forcing him to return to school. Madge comments that he will be around all sorts of beautiful girls, but Alan swears fidelity, stating, “I honestly never believed that a girl like you could care for me” (31). Hal enters, interrupting their kiss, and Madge gives them privacy to speak alone. Hal is worried because he’s never been to a picnic and spent time with so many women. He is concerned that he might say or do the wrong thing and embarrass himself. Alan reassures him and sends him along. Madge returns and Alan suggests that they take a boat out by themselves during the picnic, explaining, “I want to see if you look real in the moonlight” (32). Hal honks the car horn and Alan rushes off. Flo calls for Madge and she goes into the house to help with lunch.