Set in Independence, Kansas, a small town in Kansas in the early 1950s, it focuses on Hal Carter, an attractive young stranger who drifts into town just before the annual Labor Day celebration and sets off a chain of events that prompts various residents to reflect on the present and contemplate an unpromising future.

The supporting cast included Nan Martin, Alexis Smith, Jill Eikenberry, Miles Chapin, and Peter Weller.

In fact, a manuscript copy of the play Summer Brave held in Special Collections at the University of Kansas library [2] has an inscription by Inge on the title page.

In addition, sections of Summer Brave reflect biographical events that Inge's family felt were too personal to make public.

Hence, one page from the KU library's copy of the Summer Brave manuscript was intentionally removed (possibly by Inge's sister), leaving a gap of information in an important conversation that does not exist at all in the published version of the play.