The William Inge Theatre Festival—the unique partnering of America’s great theatrical talent and Midwestern hospitality—opens its 27th season Wednesday with a showing of “Picnic” and concludes with a multi-media Tribute Saturday.

The Inge Festival celebrates the literary heritage of William Inge, the Pulitzer Prize-winning native son and Independence Community College alumnus, and also salutes great contemporary writers.

The Festival opens Wednesday, April 23, with a performance of Inge’s “Picnic,” at 7:30 p.m. It is directed by Tony-winning performer Michele Pawk, who is Guest Professional Artist in Residence. The cast includes guest professional performers Patricia Randell, as Rosemary, and Jon Sidoli, as Howard, with ICC theatre students.

Thursday, April 24, also 7:30 p.m. is a concert reading of “The Flowers,” a comedy by Adam Bock. Bock, winner of last year’s Off-Broadway Obie Award, is winner of the Inge Festival’s Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award. “The Flowers’ is directed by Jack Cummings. The New Voices award recognizes outstanding contemporary playwrights whose voices are helping shape American theater of today.

Friday, April 25, is the Gala Dinner and Silent Auction. The evening features entertainment by the special guest artists and a Silent Auction of unique theater memorabilia. Cinema fans can catch Inge’s “Splendor in the Grass” at 7 p.m. Friday, April 25 in a special screening at the Independence Cinemas. The film won Inge an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Admission is $5 each to the screening of “Splendor in the Grass.”

In the daytime hours April 24-26, Festival patrons have the rare opportunity to learn from working professionals during public workshops and panels. The guest artists address the full range of performing arts, including, production, performances, and current trends. There are more than 45 workshops and panels offered for patrons to choose from.

Also part of the Festival is “Scenes at the Inge House.” Students who won competitions at Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival conferences will perform excerpts in the living room of the William Inge Boyhood home in Independence, which is now used as a residence for professional guest playwrights-in-residence.

Scenes are from “The Heidi Chronicles,” by Wendy Wasserstein, with students from the University of Texas A&M Corpus Christi; “The Rainy Afternoon” by William Inge, with students from the University of Wyoming; and an excerpt from Christopher Durang’s “The Actor’s Nightmare,” with ICC students Meghann Bates and Andrew Silva.

The Inge Scenes take place Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., and Saturday at 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Admission is $5 each to the “Scenes at the Inge House.”

Special Festival guests include Michael Pressman, who directed the recent Broadway revival of Inge’s “Come Back, Little Sheba,” stage and screen veteran Elizabeth Wilson, and Michele Pawk, Professional Artist in Residence at ICC.

For the general public, individual tickets to “Picnic” and “The Flowers” are $18. Tickets for the Saturday, April 26 Tribute finale are $30. The three-day daytime pass $80, or $35 for each day.

For more information about events or purchasing tickets, visit www.ingecenter.org or call (620) 332-5491, (800) 842-6063 ext. 5491, or visit the Inge Center box office in the Fine Arts Building Room from 1-5 p.m. weekdays. Discounted tickets are available for northern Montgomery County residents.

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