“Bus Stop” by William IngeDirector: Lacey Manning

Why “Bus Stop”?

Intrigued by the setting of a 1950’s diner

Enjoy the contrast of the dark, cold, and snowy outside to the inside of the diner full of brewing relationships

Setting

“Bus Stop” takes place in a street-corner diner in a small town about thirty miles west of Kansas City, Missouri. It takes place from 1:00 AM to 5:00 on a cold night in early March 1955.

Characters

Elma Duckworth teenage waitress

Grace Hoylard owner of diner

Will Masters sheriff

Cherie chanteuse

Dr. Gerald Lyman retired college professor

Carl bus driver

Virgil Blessing ranch hand

Bo Decker young rancher and cowboy

Kelli O’Hara“Grace”

Sarah Hyland“Elma”

Norbert Leo Butz“Will”

Alan Cumming“Dr. Lyman”

Rachel Potter“Cherie”

Kyle Harris“Bo”

David Nathan Perlow“Virgil”

Danny Burstein“Carl”

Themes & Spine

Loneliness The play begins with

Elma and Grace discussing the absence of Grace’s husband

The play ends with Virgil alone outside in the cold

Needing to humble oneself to find love Cherie does not accept

Bo’s love until he analyzes his own actions and changes himself

Different types of relationships

Cherie and Bo

Question whether that actually love each other but still intend to marry

Elma and Dr. Lyman

Flirt throughout the play but go separate ways

Grace and Carl

Seemingly sexual relationship when Carl comes to the diner

Bo and Virgil

Virgil takes care of Bo most of his life and guides him change for Cherie

Bo +

Cherie

Style & Directorial Concept

Realistic Style: the middle ground between naturalism and heightened realism The appliances do not actually need to work

The setting should look like a 1950s diner

Directorial Concept Based on being realistic how the play would have been

performed in the 1950s

Reinforce theme of loneliness through ruling metaphor