Theater review: ‘Picnic’ on Broadway

Theater review: ‘Picnic’ on Broadway

Joan Marcus

From left, Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Grace and Sebastian Stan in “Picnic.”

On the surface, it’s a simple story: A cocky stud muffin moseys into a tiny Kansas town to visit a buddy and whips a family of women â€" and anyone with XX chromosomes â€" into a hot, steamy lather.

It’s about sex, duh.

But William Inge’s 1953 play, “Picnic,” has other things on its mind. Like the repression of small-town life and the straitjacket of conventions and the power and limits of physical beauty. It’s provocative, thoughtful stuff, and it helped win this play a Pulitzer Prize.

Sixty years later, Inge’s drama still resonates. Director Sam Gold’s rich and satisfying revival for the Roundabout showcases in a production packed with fine performances and detailed design.

On Labor Day, hunky good-for-nothing Hal Carter (Sebastian Stan) drifts into the backyard and the lives of Flo Owens (Mare Winningham, touching as ever) and her two daughters. Millie (Madeleine Martin) is a brainy tomboy who plans to live in New York (and there’s every reason to think she’ll get there). Madge (Maggie Grace) is the town beauty, but barely made it out of high school and works in a five-and-dime store.

Flo knows Madge’s future depends on leveraging a pretty face into a marriage proposal from the rich but bland Alan Seymour (Ben Rappaport). Madge is 18. The clock is ticking. “A pretty girl doesn’t have long,” says Flo, “just a few years when she’s the equal of kings and can walk out of a shanty like this....”

But after dancing with Hal, Madge has other plans. Enough said.

The beauty of Gold’s staging direction is the way he uses foreground and background and the interior of the Owens home, seen only through windows. It creates texture and dimension, a real sense of life.

He’s also assembled a wonderful ensemble, including Reed Birney as a die-hard bachelor, Ellen Burstyn as an unmarried woman with an ailing mother, and especially Elizabeth Marvel, who gives a gutsy performance as an aging spinster.

Stan (“Gossip Girl,” “Captain America”) has the right rugged looks for Hal, played by William Holden in the ’55 film. He’s a character built to be objectified as beefcake and to sizzle in shirtless scenes. Beefy Stan rivals the porterhouses at Peter Luger’s and he brings out Hal’s vulnerable side.

Even better is Grace, a coltish blonde known for movies, including “Taken” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.” She’s a natural onstage. Her work is assured and understated and brings an air of introspection to Madge.

You want a happy ending for her. Odds are her life won’t end up being a picnic.