Performances continue through April 16 at the Gym at Judson.
Performances have begun for Transport Group's Picnic and Come Back, Little Sheba at the Gym at Judson. Both plays by William Inge are directed by Jack Cummings III and are performed in rotating rep through April 16.
Come Back, Little Sheba is described as follows: "In an old and cluttered house in the middle west in their middle age, a couple lives one day to the next: Lola, breathless with fear of silence and solitude, and Doc a recovering alcoholic. Into their tired lives comes Marie, their boarder, so flush with the riches of her youth that they can no longer deny how they spent their own. Their fragile acceptance of their own stifling reality is suddenly and brutally tested as Inge mercilessly exposes the pain and regret of the past that can be unmasked by the mere presence of youth and possibility of the future. Inge's famous play Come Back, Little Sheba, explores the endless and inevitable disappointments of the ever-seductive American promise through sex, joy, doubt, addiction, and rage."
Picnic is the story of what happens when a gorgeous drifter, Hal, arrives in a small Kansas town. He brings with him the possibilities and promises — some true some false — of a life with real options. His instant and incendiary chemistry with local 18-year old Madge unexpectedly destroys the illusions of comfort harbored by everyone we meet in this heartland’s physically expansive and emotionally suffocating landscape.
The full company of both shows features John Cariani, Hannah Elless, David Greenspan, Joseph Kolinski, Ginna Le Vine, David T. Patterson, Michele Pawk, Jennifer Piech, Heather Mac Rae, Krystal Rowley, Jay Russell, Emily Skinner, and Rowan Vickers.
Scenic design for both plays is by Dane Laffrey, costume design is by Asta Hostetter, lighting design is by R. Lee Kennedy, and casting is by Nora Brennan Casting. The production features an original score by five-time Tony nominee Michael John LaChiusa.