William Inge: Essays on the Plays and the Man

William Inge’s popular plays of the 1950s received Tony nominations (Bus Stop, 1956, and Dark at the Top of the Stairs, 1958) and won a Pulitzer Prize (Picnic, 1953). As a screenwriter, he won an Academy Award (Splendor in the Grass, 1961). Yet Inge’s career ended in perceived failure, depression and finally suicide. These previously unpublished essays take a fresh look at some of his most popular work, as well as his less well-known later plays. Inge’s work was often ahead of its time, and foreshadowed the influence of popular media and advertising, the sexual revolution and the women’s movement. The essays give context for Inge’s work within 20th-century American drama, and attest to his exceptional talent. Included are reminiscences which reveal the playwright’s charm and generosity, and shed light on how a brilliant, troubled man eventually took his own life.