Inge Sets A Lonely Stage

Bus Stop by William Inge

A lot can happen in a single night. At least, that is what William Inge is able to convince us of in his three-act romance Bus Stop.

A cowboy can lose his belligerence. A young girl can learn of romance from an unexpected source. A nightclub chanteuse can discover domesticity and a drunken lecher can mend his ways. Even the owner of a roadside diner and a bus driver can find a touch of romance in lives spent mostly in getting left behind or in leaving others behind. At least, all these things can happen until the snow is blown away and the curtain is pulled, leaving us to wonder how many of the changes will stick or whether each character will be back in the same muddle the next time the winds howl.

Bus Stop is a play that takes place in the heart of the Midwest--at a roadside diner in a small town 30 miles west of Kansas City. The bus has pulled in and the snowstorm leaves the passengers stuck until morning. The cast of characters is a fascinating one:

Elma Duckworth is a young waitress still in school and an innocent in the ways of people and love. Grace Hoyland is the owner of the restaurant, long a "grass widow" and an expert at hiding her loneliness. Will Masters is the local sheriff. Cherie is a "chanteuse," a nightclub singer and dancer who is trying to escape the overexuberant love of a young rancher and cowboy: Bo Decker. This blustering cowboy is convinced they're going to get married, though he's never really stopped to listen to Cherie's views on the topic. Virgil Blessing is a older ranch hand and Bo's mentor and friend. Dr. Gerald Lyman is a former college professor who speaks romance to Elma through the words of poets and playwrights. Carl, the bus driver, is a simple if somewhat lonely man who is open in his interest in Grace.

I have to confess to a certain inclination toward Carl, even though he is the character with the fewest lines in the script. Carl was, however, the part that my husband played when this play was performed locally. I fear I haven't the least bit of objectivity when it comes to my husband so I'll resist the temptation to rave about Carl and that role for paragraph after paragraph.

Inge paints his characters well and it is easy to hear their voices even when reading just the print in the script. The stage directions are thorough when it comes to describing the characters. Indeed, some of the directions are clearly for the reader and the actor, for they are ones that would be difficult to communicate to an audience. For example, when Cherie first enters, Inge provides this description:

Cherie, a young blonde girl of about twenty, enters as though driven. She wears no hat, and her hair, despite one brilliant bobby pin, blows wild about her face. She is pretty in a fragile, girlish way. She runs immediately to the counter to solicit the attention of Grace and Elma. She lugs along an enormous straw suitcase that is worn and battered. her clothes, considering her situation, are absurd: a skimpy jacket of sequins and net, and gilded sandals that expose brightly enameled toes. Also, her make-up has been applied under the influence of having seen too many movies. Her lipstick creates a voluptuous pair of lips that aren't her own, and her eyebrows also form a somewhat arbitrary line. But despite all these defects, her prettiness still is apparent, and she has the appeal of a tender little bird. Her origin is the Ozarks and her speech is Southern.

Of course, such detail can be nightmarish to the director who is trying to cast the show, but for a reader or actor the detail helps create a picture of this frightened singer. Inge also gives directions on how nearly every line should be delivered, almost as if he feared too much interpretation on the part of the actor would destroy these finely crafted creations of his.

As interesting as the characters are, the play is less about them and more about loneliness. Loneliness is the motivation that drives every character except the sheriff. It is almost as if Inge is trying to explore the different ways people respond to the same dull ache.

Overall, the script is a fascinating one. A lot happens in a single night while all these people are forced to spend the evening together and to confront their own motivations. There are laughs, tears, and outright frustration. Inge is a masterful writer and the language he uses helps to reveal each person's character just a little more.

Like most scripts, it is better seen than read. Inge is popular with community and regional theaters. If you get the opportunity to see the play in your community, do so! You'll spend an evening with some average, troubled humans who will amuse and provoke you.

--B. Redman