Any reports on Transport Groups' PICNIC or SHEBA?

[round2]

I hadn't felt a need to see PICNIC again after the Roundabout revival, or COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA, after the MTC production.

The Transport Groups' I REMEMBER MAMA was such an unexpected pleasure that I'm curious about their William Inge play repertory that started last week. Anyone gone yet, or plan on going?

 

 

[JVJ93]

I went to Picnic this past Sunday night. I enjoyed it. Seating is general admission, so they suggest you get there early to get the best choice of where to sit. Michelle Pawk, Emily Skinner and the actress playing Madge were the standouts. 2.5 hours with two intermissions. Nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyed it very much. 

[AC126748]

Seeing Picnic on Saturday. Will see Sheba eventually. Picnic is one of my favorite plays, and it's an absolute treat when done well. The recent-ish Roundabout production got so much wrong. The Transport Group has had so many home runs in the last couple of years (in addition to the already mentioned I Remember Mama, their production of Inge's rarely produced The Dark at the Top of the Stairs was glorious) that I'm very optimistic. The casting for both is great.

[round2]

Thanks for your report, JVJ93. When you say the production isn't ground-breaking, does that mean it's staged traditionally, as opposed to a non-traditional staging like that of their I REMEMBER MAMA?

[JVJ93]

Well there really is no set to speak of, so that effects the staging. The gym space has three rectangular plywood boards to represent the houses with two chairs in front of each. And that's the entirety of the set. So the staging is a lot of pacing from one end of the gym to the other. Extremely minimalistic. 

[AC126748]

I saw Picnic tonight, and I have to say this is the most successful production of the play I've ever seen. More traditional productions of Inge's plays can come across as overly fusty nowadays, but the bare-bones approach that Jack Cummings and Transport Group have taken really present the text at its most essential. It was thrilling to have the actors performing just feet away from you, and it really added a sense of urgency to the play. The two-and-a-half hours (with two brief intermissions) flew by.

The entire cast is spectacular, but Emily Skinner's Rosemary is first among equals. It's a stunningly realized performance of a character who can come across as a histrionic harridan in the wrong hands (like Elizabeth Marvel's regrettably over-the-top performance in the 2012 Broadway revival). Michele Pawk's Flo is also quite compelling, even though she didn't seem to have a full grasp of her lines. (She didn't go up--she just seemed noticeably tentative in places). Ginna Le Vine is making her New York debut as Madge, and she's lovely; her chemistry with David Patterson's Hal is palpable. Hannah Elless looks a bit too old for Millie, but her performance is spot-on. John Cariani was a pleasant surprise as Howard, and it's always great to see Heather MacRae on stage.

Each performance seats only 84 audience members, so the level of intimacy is really incredible, as I already alluded to. Now that I've seen Picnic, I can't wait to get back for Come Back Little Sheba.