William Inge and His Contemporaries

The William Inge Festival

Independence Community College

Independence, Kansas

April 15, 16, 17, 1984

Conference and Festival Events

Sunday, April 15

1:00 – 5:00 pm Registration for Conference and Festival Events, Foyer of William Inge Theatre

2:00 pm William Gibson’s “Monday After the Miracle”, presented by the Picnic Players of Independence, William Inge Theatre. Admission $5.00

4:30 pm “William Inge: Penn Avenue to Broadway”, a slide show and soundtrack prepared by Michael Wood, assisted by Paul Fry. Lecture Hall, Academic Building

8:00 pm “Inge’s Bus Stop Sings!” with Walter Willison, Jefrey Silverman, and Kim Chriswell. William Inge Theatre, Admission $5.00. Reception following the performance, sponsored by Independence Arts Council, Foyer of the William Inge Theatre



Monday, April 16

The Inge Collection in the Library will be opened upon request from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm

8:30 – 12:00 noon Registration and coffee, Foyer of William Inge Theatre

9:30 am “William Inge: Penn Avenue to Broadway”, a slide show and sound track prepared by Michael Wood, assisted by Paul Fry.

9:30 – 10:30 am Keynote address: Albert Wertheim, Indiana University, “William Inge and the 1950’s”

Robert Patrick, author of “Kennedy’s Children”, “The Playwright as Social Commentator: Inge, Williams, McCullers, and Albee”. (Paper to be read by Shirley Knight). Lecture Hall, Academic Building

11:00 am “Our Contemporary Theatre”, a Symposium conducted by William Gibson, playwright; Walter Willison, actor-producer and lyricist; Jeffrey Silverman, composer; and Shirley Knight, actress. William Inge Theatre.

12:30 pm Honors Luncheon, Student Union, Admission $5.00

2:00 pm Ralph F. Voss, University of Alabama, Inge biographer, “William Inge and the Specter of Celebrity”. Lecture Hall, Academic Building.

2:30 – 3:20 pm The Heart of the Country: Virginia Jones, English, Baker University. “Stereotyping and Idealism in “Come Back, Little Sheba” and “Dark at the Top of the Stairs”. Charles Masinton, English, University of Kansas. “Inge and Shepard: Two Views of Middle America”. Gene DeGruson, Library, Pittsburg State University. “The Kansas Roots of William Gibson”, FA 1, Fine Arts Building. Moderator Ossie E. Tranbarger.

2:30 – 3:20 pm Isolation or Community: Steven Gale, English, Missouri Southern State College. “Small Town Images in Four Plays by William Inge”. George S. Friedman, English, Towson State University, “Dead-Ends and Deliverers: Loneliness and Companionship in the Plays of William Inge”. Wayne B. Stengel, English, University of Florida, “Breaking Away and Coming Home: The Sense of Community in William Inge’s “Picnic” and Lanford Wilson’s “Fifth of July””. Music Room, Fine Arts Building. Moderator: Harrison Hartley.

3:30 – 4:20 pm The American Family on Stage: Therese Jones, English, University of Colorado-Boulder, “An American Menage a Trois: Husband, Wife, and Prostitute in Four Plays by Eugene O’Neill”. George Wedge, English, University of Kansas, “Mixing Memory with Desire: The Family of the Alcoholic in Three Mid-Century Plays”. Anita Bremseth, English, University of Mississippi, “Elmer Rice and William Inge: Contrasting Attitudes Toward Women”. FA 1, Fine Arts Building, Moderator: Del Singleton.

3:00 pm “William Inge: Penn Avenue to Broadway”, Lecture Hall, Academic Building

7:30 pm “An Evening with William Gibson and Friends”. Guest performers: Shirley Knight, Jefrey Silverman, and Walter Willison; William Gibson reading from his newest work. Presentation of “The William Inge Playwright Award for Outstanding Contributions to the American Theatre” by John Carlin, Governor of Kansas. William Inge Theatre. Admission $5.00. Reception following the performance.

Tuesday, April 17

The Inge Collection in the Library will be opened upon request from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm

8:30 – 9:30 am Registration and coffee, Foyer of the William Inge Theatre

9:30 – 10:20 am Susan Hawkins Miller, University of Kansas, “Goons and Pretty Girls: William Inge’s Female Characters” Looking Forward: Jackson Bryer, University of Maryland, “William Inge: A Playwright for the 1980’s?” Lecture Hall, Academic Building

9:30 am Splendor in the Grass, a film by William Inge. Post film discussion led by Gary Mitchell, Independence Community College. William Inge Theatre. Admission free.

10:30 – 11:20 am Myth, Oedipus, and Anima: Judith Thompson, University of Kansas Center for Humanities Studies, “Williams and Inge: Myth-Maker/ Realist”. Robert F. Gross, Theatre, Cornell University, “Selling ‘The Circumcision’: Father and Son in Behrman’s “Lord Pengo”. Priscilla D. Shaw, English, University of Kansas, “Arthur Miller’s Women: Jung’s Anima in Miller’s Plays”. FA 1, Fine Arts Building. Moderator: Mary R. Davidson.

11:30 – 12:20 pm The Playwright and the Critics: Colby H. Kullman, English, University of Kansas, “William Inge, the Early Years: William C. Young’s Unfinished Biography of William Inge as Compassionate Playwright”. Janet Juhnke, English, Kansas Wesleyan University, “Inge’s Women and ‘The Feminine Mystique’”. Tom Averill, Washburn University, “Critic vs. Playwright: Brustein and Inge”. Music Room, Fine Arts Building. Moderator: Gary Mitchell.

Reality or Opportunity: Jeanne McGlinn, English, Ottawa University, “To Face Reality: Women in the Plays of William Inge and Tennessee Williams”. Steven R. Centola, English, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, “Settling for Half: Compromise and Repression as Bad Faith in Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge” and William Inge’s “Come Back Little Sheba”. Joel Climenhaga, Theatre, Kansas State University, “Opportunities for Playwrights in the 90’s”. FA 1, Fine Arts Building. Moderator: Harrison Hartley.