The characters in William Inge’s classic, Bus Stop, , are forced to face some hard truths about themselves in the hours they spend holed up in a small-town diner during a blizzard. Although it may not be Inge’s best play, Bus Stopcontains the distinctive touches he infuses into all of his work. He reveals the frustration and disappointment in ordinary people’s lives, especially those people who live in America’s Midwest.
In this production, the professional Milwaukee Chamber Theater has teamed up with a local university’s theater department, involving students and faculty in all aspects of creating the production. Several students appear as the cast’s younger characters, and a faculty member portrays a drunken professor who is forever quoting Shakespeare until he blacks out.
The students give impressive performances, particularly the women, which include Anne Walaszek as Cherie, a nightclub chanteuse,” and Brenna Kempf as Elma, a high-school age waitress. Jamie Cheatham, as the drunk professor, seemed to be an audience favorite on opening night.
The newcomers blend easily with the professionals, who include Jacque Troy as Grace, the tough-talking owner of Grace’s Diner, and Patrick Lawlor as Virgil, a farm hand/ bus passenger on his way back home to Montana. The part of Grace seems tailor-made for Troy, whose manner can soften when needed. She is watchful and protective of her young helper, Elma, who tends to be more naive than one would expect from a teenager, even in 1955.
Lawlor gives an engaging performance as an aging cowboy who regrets missing his chance to settle down. At the end of the play he makes an incredibly generous gesture toward Bo, his former ward.
As Bo Decker, the feisty young cowboy, student actor Ethan Hall hadn’t hit his stride by opening night. He appeared more awkward and stiff than required, although Bo is supposed to feel out-of-place anywhere except outdoors. Hall’s inexperience took some of the sizzle out of Bo’s brief conversations with Cherie, whom he has hustled onto the bus and plans to marry the minute they reach Montana. It doesn’t help that Bo’s costume consists of brand-new jeans and boots, when one would expect a cowboy’s clothes to be well-worn. On the positive side of the costume equation, Cherie’s “performance outfit” is right on the mark.
Another key character is the sheriff, played convincingly by Dan Katula. Although the sheriff is serious about maintaining law-and-order in his small town, Katula seems more inclined to emphasize the character’s easygoing aspects. Katula, as the sheriff, models the true merits of a man’s character for the benefit of the young, headstrong Bo.
Inge’s leisurely pacing leaves plenty of time to admire the set, which consists of the interior of Grace’s diner. It reeks of authenticity, right down to the red vinyl booths and faded linoleum tiles. On the counter, doughnuts are piled onto a glass-topped cake plate. Across from the counter is a juke box, which provides occasional background music for the characters as they wait out the long, frosty night. It is a picture-perfect scene right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
