AT THE THEATRE WITH LADY BEVERLY COHN William Inge’s “Picnic” Poorly Staged at Odyssey Theatre

The latest iteration is the subject of my review.

So, to be clear, this is not your William Holden, Kim Novak award-winning version of “PICNIC.” What you have instead is a rather amateurish rendering of this American classic. I dare say that the playwright is probably turning over in his grave, wondering how his play, under the spotty direction of John Farmanesh–Bocca, morphed into a high school or even a middle school version.

In the last century, America gave birth to the greatest playwrights of all time. Included in that rarified category are Arthur Miller (“Death of a Salesman,”) Eugene

O’Neill (Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “The Iceman Cometh,”) Edward Albee (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “The Zoo Story,”)

Sam Shepard (“Buried Child,” “Fool for Love,”)

Thornton Wilder (“Our Town,” “The Skin of Our Teeth.”)

Neil Simon (“Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Barefoot in the Park,”) David Mamet (“Glengarry, Glen Ross,”

“American Buffalo,”) August Wilson (“Fences,” “The Piano Lesson,”) and Tony Kushner (“Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” “Angels in America: Perestroika,”) and, of course, William Inge’s “Come Back Little Sheba, “Bus Stop’” and his timeless “Picnic,” for which he was feted with a Pulitzer Prize.”

To give you a historical perspective, Inge’s iconic “Picnic” premiered in New York in 1953, featuring Ralph Meeker, Eileen Heckart, Arthur O’Connell, Janice Rule, Reta Shaw, Kim Stanley, and a very young unknown Paul Newman, who wanted the leading role but was rejected because the director didn’t think he had the physique to fit the part. Still, eventually, he did take over the lead. Inge won that work’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Logan received a Tony Award for Best Director. The play also won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play of the Season. Eventually, Josh Logan directed the film starring William Holden and Kim Novak, and it was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, scoring two wins.