Bus Stop (play)

:"For the movie, see Bus Stop (film)."

"Bus Stop" is a 1955 play by William Inge. The film of the same name is only loosely based upon it.

Characters

"Bus Stop" is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in Kansas during a storm from which bus passengers must shelter.The characters are:

*Grace Hoylard — Owner of the diner, a "grass widow". She is 40-ish, and pretty in a fading, hard-bitten way. She has a passionate side to her nature, loving a good fight and the attentions of a good man.

*Elma Duckworth — An intelligent but naive high school student; she is Grace's waitress.

*Will Masters — The local sheriff. Tough as nails and brusque in manner, but good-hearted and a staunch Christian, described in the play as a "deacon of his church". A highly "moral" man in the general sense of the word.

*Dr. Gerald Lyman — A college English professor who is articulate and charming, but cannot hold a position, partially due to his resistance to any kind of authority, and partially due to his unfortunate taste for young women. He also has a drinking problem.

*Cherie — A pretty young woman who comes from a difficult "hill folk" background, and has left her innocence far behind. She is an aspiring nightclub singer, but has never worked in any establishment above the level of "cheap dive".

*Bo Decker — A brash young cowboy with boorish manners that hide a naivete almost as profound as Elma's. He has convinced himself that Cherie will be his bride, though Cherie wants nothing to do with him.

*Virgil — An older, wiser cowboy who has become a father figure to Bo, as well as Bo's head ranch hand.

*Carl — The bus driver, who has an ongoing "just passing through" relationship with Grace, which, as referenced repeatedly in the play, is purely sexual in nature.

ynopsis

The play is set in a diner about 20 miles west of Kansas City in early March, 1955. A freak snowstorm has halted the progress of the bus, and the eight characters have a weather-enforced layover in the diner from approximately 1 to 5 a.m. Romantic or quasi-romantic relationships ensue between Grace and Carl, Professor Lyman and Elma, and Cherie and Bo. Virgil and Will are the older authority figures outside the relationships.

Broadway

The play opened on March 2, 1955 and closed on April 21, 1956, running for a total of 478 performances. The opening night cast starred Albert Salmi as Bo Decker and Kim Stanley as Cherie and was directed by Harold Clurman.

In 1996 there was a short-lived revival, running only 29 performances.

Television

In August 1982, Bus Stop was presented on television; a special filmed performance of the play at the Claremont Theater in California, directed by Peter Hunt. This version starred Tim Matheson as Bo Decker and Margot Kidder as Cherie.

External links

*ibdb title|id=2507|title=Bus Stop
*ibdb title|id=4321|title=Bus Stop (1996 revival)
*imdb title|id=0386346|title=Bus Stop (1982) (TV)