A play by William Inge that deals with forbidden love (or lust, depending on your perspective), gender roles, and the illusion of free will. The entire play takes place in the backyards of two houses in Kansas during Labor Day weekend, 1956, when the small town is hosting a picnic. One is the home of Helen Potts, a spinster who takes care of her rude yet helpless mother, who stopped her from marrying her true love, and the other is the home of Florence Owens, whose husband left her with two children, Millie (a tomboy) and Madge (a beauty). Their neat little world is thrown into chaos with the arrival of Hal Carter, a mischievous rascal who upsets the orderly, low-key town with his false stories and macho behavior. Particularly influenced is Madge, whose longtime relationship with the banal Alan Seymour is put into question.

The play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. The play opened that same year at the Music Box Theater in New York City. Today “Picnic” is a common play to be performed by amateur theater groups, such as high schools and community playhouses.