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Summer Brave
Summer Brave
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Biz Staff Pick!
Author: William Inge Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 79 Pub. Date: 1979 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822210983 ISBN-13: 9780822210986 Cast Size: 7 female, 7 male
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About
the Play:
Summer Brave has long been a favourite
of acting teachers for Male/Male Scenes.
Summer Brave is a full-length drama by William Inge.
A handsome young drifter shakes things up in a sleepy Midwestern
town. The young man sets off a chain of events that has the citizens
pondering about the present and an unpleasant future. From one of the
20th Century's most important playwrights, this rewritten version of
the Pulitzer Prize winning Picnic has the same story with a
few more curves and turns along the way, thus making Summer Brave
a separate work that holds its own. Particularly
suitable for schools and play contests.
Summer Brave has been described by the author as the
"rewritten and final version of the romantic comedy Picnic."
It follows the same basic story of its Pulitzer Prize winning
counterpart, with a few distinctions. Again, as in Picnic, the
setting is a small Kansas town where everyone knows each other –
until a mysterious young stranger affects the ambience of the
community. The animal attractiveness of an unpolished young stranger
sets small-town tongues wagging and leads to unexpected consequences
for a stifled beauty queen, her cynically practical mother, her
inquisitive younger sister, and a spinster schoolteacher boarder.
Summer Brave has more acting roles and background "colour"
than Picnic since William Inge re-focuses on his
original purpose, approaching its theme with more humour and
verisimilitude, the play reaches similar conclusions about the
impetuosity of youth; the damage caused by rumour and innuendo; and
the sudden realization by the older characters that life is about to
pass them by. In the end the play is a masterful blend of touching
and humorous elements in which lessons are learned about growing up,
going on, and accepting what a sometimes perverse fate imposes. This
haunting and deeply affecting play was withheld from general
availability during the author's lifetime. In his preface, William
Inge wrote that he never completely fulfilled his goals before
going into production with Picnic in 1953. After the accolades
were bestowed upon Picnic including the hit movie, he decided
to go back and rework the play for his own gratification, offering
fascinating glimpses into the subtle processes that shape and reshape
a creative work as it takes on the final shadings that fully reflect
the author's intentions, thus making it a separate work that can hold
its own. Over 50 years later, this work, from one of the greatest
playwrights of the 20th century, resonates even today as we ponder
the wonders of youth and realize that life is moving faster than we
would like.
Summer Brave premiered in 1975 on Broadway at the ANTA
Playhouse. The
play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and
workshops and is regularly performed in regional repertory, middle
school, high school, college, and community theatre productions.
Cast: 7 female, 7 male
What people say:
"...one of this country's
half-dozen greatest playwrights ... worth traveling any distance to
see." — Wall Street Journal
About the Playwright:
William Inge (1913-1973) may justifiably be called the
first playwright to examine the American Midwest and its people. He
was born in Independence, Kansas, and was educated at the University
of Kansas. After working as a teacher and an actor, he became the
drama critic for the St. Louis Star-Times. During the 1950s
and early '60s, no other American dramatist with the exception of
Tennessee Williams could compare with William Inge in
his prominence on the Broadway stage and in films. As Tennessee
Williams tapped into the mannerisms and neuroses of the American
South, Inge did much the same for the Midwest racking up a stunning
track record on Broadway – four plays, four hits – and all of his
theatrical successes were turned into big-budget Hollywood movies
with blue-chip casts. Like Williams, he also occasionally wrote film
scripts, and he won an Oscar for Splendor in the Grass.
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