ENMU Presenting Picnic for Homecoming

Date: 10/3/2003
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Britt Hochhausler

PORTALES--The Department of Theatre and Dance at Eastern New Mexico
University will present William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Picnic on
October 9-11 at 8 p.m. at the University Theatre Center.

The play is directed by Anne Beck, assistant professor of theatre. It serves
as the senior recital for Christi Bradshaw, who plays the part of Rosemary
Sydney.

Picnic, loosely based on Inge's experiences of his boyhood home of
Independence, Kan., takes place on Labor Day weekend in the joint back-yards
of two middle-aged women. One house belongs to Flo Owens, who lives with her
two teenage daughters, Madge and Millie, and their boarder, "spinster
school-teacher" Rosemary Sydney.

The other house belongs to Helen Potts, who lives with her invalid mother.
Into this community of women appears Hal Carter, a handsome drifter - once a
college football hero - and his presence ignites the already-heady
excitement that surrounds the upcoming end-of-summer picnic.

As the rest of the town gathers by the river to celebrate, Rosemary
confronts Howard Bevans, the man who has kept her at bay with half-promises
of marriage, while Madge succumbs to Hal abandoning her steady date, Alan
Seymour, a man who most certainly can offer her security and material
happiness.

Tickets are on sale at the University Theatre Center Box Office at
505-562-2710. Tickets are $4 for students, $7 for adults, $6 for senior
citizens, and $5 for pre-college students.

For more information, contact Dr. Beck at 505-562-2710.