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Bus Stop
In the middle of a howling snowstorm, a bus out of Kansas City pulls up at a cheerful roadside diner. All roads are blocked, and four or five weary travelers are going to have to hole up until morning. Cherie, a nightclub chanteuse in a sparkling gown and a seedy fur-trimmed jacket, is the passenger with most to worry about. She's been pursued, made love to and finally kidnapped by a twenty-one-year-old cowboy with a ranch of his own and the romantic methods of an unusually headstrong bull. The belligerent cowhand is right behind her, ready to sling her over his shoulder and carry her, alive and kicking, all the way to Montana. Even as she's ducking out from under his clumsy but confident embraces, and screeching at him fiercely to shut him up, she pauses to furrow her forehead and muse, "Somehow deep inside of me I got a funny feeling I'm gonna end up in Montana " As a counterpoint to the main romance, the proprietor of the cafe and the bus driver at last find time to develop a friendship of their own; a middle-age scholar comes to terms with himself; and a young girl who works in the cafe also gets her first taste of romance.
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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493 people want to read
About the author
William Inge
59 books43 followersDramas of American playwright William Motter Inge explored the expectations and fears of small-town Midwesterners; his play
Picnic
(1953) won a Pulitzer Prize.
Works of this novelist typically feature solitary protagonists, encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, Broadway produced a memorable string. Inge rooted his portraits of life and settings in the heartland.
Works of this novelist typically feature solitary protagonists, encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, Broadway produced a memorable string. Inge rooted his portraits of life and settings in the heartland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
June 4, 2023
I been talkin' with my buddy, and he thinks I'm virgin enough fer the two of us.
Bus Stop ~~ William Inge
Time has not been kind to William Inge.
During the 1950s, Inge belonged to the sacred triumvirate of American dramatists, the other two being Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. In fact, Inge was far more successful commercially in the 1950s than Miller. His string of hits, Picnic, Bus Stop, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and Come Back, Little Sheba were all turned into major Hollywood productions staring the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Rosalind Russell, Kim Novak, William Holden, and Robert Preston. So successful was Inge that by 1962 he had won both a Pulitzer and an Academy Award for Splendor in the Grass.. His longtime friend and mentor, Williams, was envious of his success.
A year later, 1963, Inge’s luck had changed. He was never to have another success in his lifetime.
Like Williams, Inge fell out of favor with critics. As criticism of his work intensified, also like Williams, Inge desperately struggled to please those critics by modernizing his writing. Sadly, his characters lost their authentic voices, and neither critics nor audiences found his later work believable.
Through it all, Inge struggled with alcoholism and homosexuality. He was deeply ashamed of both. One night, in 1973, he went into his garage, shut the door of his car, and turned the key. At the age of 60, life had become too unbearable for William Inge ~~ he ended the pain by suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Today, Inge is mostly forgotten ~~ a relic of the past ~~ whose writing is viewed as dated … he is now viewed as a minor playwright, largely forgotten, and never as great as he believed himself to be ...
Inge ~~ so hard to peg. Not in the league of O'Neill, Albee, Williams or Miller ~~ but this is a good play ~~ even with the ghost of Monroe looming large.
Bus Stop ~~ William Inge
Time has not been kind to William Inge.
During the 1950s, Inge belonged to the sacred triumvirate of American dramatists, the other two being Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. In fact, Inge was far more successful commercially in the 1950s than Miller. His string of hits, Picnic, Bus Stop, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and Come Back, Little Sheba were all turned into major Hollywood productions staring the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Rosalind Russell, Kim Novak, William Holden, and Robert Preston. So successful was Inge that by 1962 he had won both a Pulitzer and an Academy Award for Splendor in the Grass.. His longtime friend and mentor, Williams, was envious of his success.
A year later, 1963, Inge’s luck had changed. He was never to have another success in his lifetime.
Like Williams, Inge fell out of favor with critics. As criticism of his work intensified, also like Williams, Inge desperately struggled to please those critics by modernizing his writing. Sadly, his characters lost their authentic voices, and neither critics nor audiences found his later work believable.
Through it all, Inge struggled with alcoholism and homosexuality. He was deeply ashamed of both. One night, in 1973, he went into his garage, shut the door of his car, and turned the key. At the age of 60, life had become too unbearable for William Inge ~~ he ended the pain by suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Today, Inge is mostly forgotten ~~ a relic of the past ~~ whose writing is viewed as dated … he is now viewed as a minor playwright, largely forgotten, and never as great as he believed himself to be ...
Inge ~~ so hard to peg. Not in the league of O'Neill, Albee, Williams or Miller ~~ but this is a good play ~~ even with the ghost of Monroe looming large.
June 16, 2023
3,5/5
The word that comes to my mind when I think of writing a review about this book is "melodramatic", a sure thing for Hollywood movies of the 1940s and 1950s. Yet, I appreciated reading it for a sense of ingenuity revolving all around the play.
The word that comes to my mind when I think of writing a review about this book is "melodramatic", a sure thing for Hollywood movies of the 1940s and 1950s. Yet, I appreciated reading it for a sense of ingenuity revolving all around the play.
November 20, 2023
I read this play to consider it for next season at the theater I manage. I've always enjoyed the movie. It's interesting to look at this 1950s play through a 2023 lens, especially after the Barbie movie and other stories that have focused on the idea of fragile masculinity. I'd be interested to see this show produced and directed by a woman.
April 9, 2018
Listen, if you love this play, my review is only going to take all the wind out of your sails so take this as fair warning that you should probably just move on.
If male heterosexuality were a DSM diagnosis (and I'm not suggesting it should be, so stop already) instead of listing the disorder's features they'd just insert this play.
We've got all the traditional male stereotypes- the hero, the lover boy, the ineffectual lug, the high-testosterone/low self-esteem abuser, and the passive-aggressive manipulator - displaying all seven sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth), albeit most of the sins rest within a single character (Bo.)
On the other end of the spectrum, we have women who contain almost nothing identifying and are no more than guileless victims and sex objects that we feel protective of...until we don't.
I suppose it's these exaggerated characterizations that cause the play's classification as a comedy but honestly, I found it more than a little infuriating.
While there is an obvious victimization of Cherie (by Bo), we also watch a pedophile ply his trade on the young server, Elma. At first, this second victimization is just creepy but when Dr. Lyman's past is fully revealed, the reader knows their instincts have been accurate. Which implies that the characters should have seen thorough this guy, too.
Meanwhile, our hero, the Sheriff, thinks things are in hand and it's safe for him to go about his other business. Unfortunately, this leaves, both Cherie and Elma are left to fend for themselves. Virgil makes very little effort to reign in his buddy's behavior while Grace and Carl (the restaurant owner and the bus driver) sneak off for a little adult action leaving Cherie and Elma to fend for themselves in the hands of predators.
Particularly in a work where pre-marital and extra-marital sex are discussed openly I expected the victimization piece to be dealt with more head-on. Silly me. While Elma is eventually cautioned by Grace not to ever meet with Dr. Lyman, Cherie decides that a man can change his ways in the span of ten minutes and decides to marry Bo after all.
Did you catch that? Pedophiles are DEFINITELY a problem but physically and sexually aggressive heterosexuals are a-ok. Did I mention I found this infuriating? So let's go back to the DSM because now we've got to deal with Cherie.
We meet her as independent and strong-willed, if fearful, and we sympathize with her. Throughout the play she is clearly in a situation she does not want to be in, although we cannot say she is totally without blame. She developed a relationship (however shallow) with Bo which is partly why she finds herself in the bus stop. So how, by the end of the night, is she suddenly willing to ignore all of Bo's previous behavior and decide he's worth taking a chance on? Are we dealing with Stockholm syndrome here? Is there ANY chance they get to the ranch and are actually happy together?
Even Virgil gives up his half-assed defense of Cherie and, rather than go home, decides to stay behind as the bus moves on.
The only comedy chip I'm willing to gamble (and understand it's the dark comedy chip) is the play's undercurrent of "sex-ruins-everything." Cherie shouldn't have slept with Bo. Grace is now in an "I'll call you, honey" situation with Carl (not to mention her absentee husband). Lyman's sexual proclivities keep him moving from place to place, relationship to relationship. Would all of these people be better off if they'd kept it in their pants?
Now I have to come up with something (anything!) positive to say so let's do this: it is well-written. The tension is high, obviously, and you want to know what's around the next corner. Inge's best lines are the last two of the play, but there are definitely some good one-liners throughout.
While I'm usually an evangelist for reading in context, I just can't do it here. Or maybe I just don't want to imagine the context where this was a view of life-as-it-is or even worse, a "romantic comedy."
If male heterosexuality were a DSM diagnosis (and I'm not suggesting it should be, so stop already) instead of listing the disorder's features they'd just insert this play.
We've got all the traditional male stereotypes- the hero, the lover boy, the ineffectual lug, the high-testosterone/low self-esteem abuser, and the passive-aggressive manipulator - displaying all seven sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth), albeit most of the sins rest within a single character (Bo.)
On the other end of the spectrum, we have women who contain almost nothing identifying and are no more than guileless victims and sex objects that we feel protective of...until we don't.
I suppose it's these exaggerated characterizations that cause the play's classification as a comedy but honestly, I found it more than a little infuriating.
While there is an obvious victimization of Cherie (by Bo), we also watch a pedophile ply his trade on the young server, Elma. At first, this second victimization is just creepy but when Dr. Lyman's past is fully revealed, the reader knows their instincts have been accurate. Which implies that the characters should have seen thorough this guy, too.
Meanwhile, our hero, the Sheriff, thinks things are in hand and it's safe for him to go about his other business. Unfortunately, this leaves, both Cherie and Elma are left to fend for themselves. Virgil makes very little effort to reign in his buddy's behavior while Grace and Carl (the restaurant owner and the bus driver) sneak off for a little adult action leaving Cherie and Elma to fend for themselves in the hands of predators.
Particularly in a work where pre-marital and extra-marital sex are discussed openly I expected the victimization piece to be dealt with more head-on. Silly me. While Elma is eventually cautioned by Grace not to ever meet with Dr. Lyman, Cherie decides that a man can change his ways in the span of ten minutes and decides to marry Bo after all.
Did you catch that? Pedophiles are DEFINITELY a problem but physically and sexually aggressive heterosexuals are a-ok. Did I mention I found this infuriating? So let's go back to the DSM because now we've got to deal with Cherie.
We meet her as independent and strong-willed, if fearful, and we sympathize with her. Throughout the play she is clearly in a situation she does not want to be in, although we cannot say she is totally without blame. She developed a relationship (however shallow) with Bo which is partly why she finds herself in the bus stop. So how, by the end of the night, is she suddenly willing to ignore all of Bo's previous behavior and decide he's worth taking a chance on? Are we dealing with Stockholm syndrome here? Is there ANY chance they get to the ranch and are actually happy together?
Even Virgil gives up his half-assed defense of Cherie and, rather than go home, decides to stay behind as the bus moves on.
The only comedy chip I'm willing to gamble (and understand it's the dark comedy chip) is the play's undercurrent of "sex-ruins-everything." Cherie shouldn't have slept with Bo. Grace is now in an "I'll call you, honey" situation with Carl (not to mention her absentee husband). Lyman's sexual proclivities keep him moving from place to place, relationship to relationship. Would all of these people be better off if they'd kept it in their pants?
Now I have to come up with something (anything!) positive to say so let's do this: it is well-written. The tension is high, obviously, and you want to know what's around the next corner. Inge's best lines are the last two of the play, but there are definitely some good one-liners throughout.
While I'm usually an evangelist for reading in context, I just can't do it here. Or maybe I just don't want to imagine the context where this was a view of life-as-it-is or even worse, a "romantic comedy."
May 22, 2023
My least favorite lines to read, not including 95% of the stage directions 🙃:
"I ain't so pertikler what kinda pie it is, so long as it's got that murang on top of it."
"...when I walked into that night club place and hear you singin' my favorite song, standin' before that orkester..."
"Oh, is zat so?"
"Mebee she's yor feeancy and maybe she ain't."
"Yor overlookin' the simple but impotant fack that the little last don't love you."
"There's a justice a the peace down the street."
"... I allus wondered if mebbe I din spoil yer chances a settlin' down."
"G'wan, Bo."
"I ain't so pertikler what kinda pie it is, so long as it's got that murang on top of it."
"...when I walked into that night club place and hear you singin' my favorite song, standin' before that orkester..."
"Oh, is zat so?"
"Mebee she's yor feeancy and maybe she ain't."
"Yor overlookin' the simple but impotant fack that the little last don't love you."
"There's a justice a the peace down the street."
"... I allus wondered if mebbe I din spoil yer chances a settlin' down."
"G'wan, Bo."
July 19, 2022
I like the setting, but everything else--plot, dialogue, characterization--is just too cornball for me. And there's a real gender imbalance going on here: the faults of the men drive the plot forward, and though I like the personalities of the women, they nevertheless feel defined--whole or in part--by the way they relate to men.
Is that an of-the-time thing? Or is that a male playwright writing within the gender constructs of his time period? I don't know. Either way, there's some moments of profundity to be found here, and I can understand why people would identify William Inge's work as being emblematic of the Midwest spirit. Still, as a Midwesterner (sort of), this feels really hokey, and could be a heck of lot deeper and much more nuanced.
Is that an of-the-time thing? Or is that a male playwright writing within the gender constructs of his time period? I don't know. Either way, there's some moments of profundity to be found here, and I can understand why people would identify William Inge's work as being emblematic of the Midwest spirit. Still, as a Midwesterner (sort of), this feels really hokey, and could be a heck of lot deeper and much more nuanced.
March 5, 2019
I have not watched the movie as of yet.
I did, however, google all of the actors and actresses from the play and placed them into the story.
I felt William Inge did a wonderful job of creating such a vivid and realistic portrayal of people stranded at a bus stop.
I did, however, google all of the actors and actresses from the play and placed them into the story.
I felt William Inge did a wonderful job of creating such a vivid and realistic portrayal of people stranded at a bus stop.
February 2, 2012
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.
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.
January 24, 2021
This was a very fun play to read— I really liked the setting, the idea of that night at the bus stop and how it affects the people stuck in that place together. Some moments made me laugh out loud and eventhough I havent seen the film or the play live I felt like the pacing and the shifts of focus were very much on point. However, the ending of the relationship between Cherie and Bo is clearly not it. There are certainly elements in „Bus Stop“ that are sexist etc. Yet in other aspects it seems very progressive for 1950. Anyway I‘d love to see a modern adaptation of it on stage.
February 8, 2017
Re-read for the umpteenth time in preparation for a production.
It's a modern classic with the advantage of having the movie images of Marilyn Monroe seared into my brain (which was unlikely casting, but it worked).
Plays should be read in the amount of time it takes to see a play, i.e., about 2 hours, in one sitting.
The snowbound characters from the bus interact with the locals at the Kansas bus stop, and everyone learns a thing or two. A heartfelt resolution for all. Go see it!
It's a modern classic with the advantage of having the movie images of Marilyn Monroe seared into my brain (which was unlikely casting, but it worked).
Plays should be read in the amount of time it takes to see a play, i.e., about 2 hours, in one sitting.
The snowbound characters from the bus interact with the locals at the Kansas bus stop, and everyone learns a thing or two. A heartfelt resolution for all. Go see it!
April 9, 2020
Despite being sappy at times, William Inge is the master of the romantic comedy.
May 12, 2014
The feels...
September 29, 2017
Excellent play with expertly drawn characters and snappy dialogue.
September 11, 2022
I loved William Ingle’s “Come Back Little Sheba” and had been interested in reading “Bus Stop” and decided on reading after just recently seeing the movie with Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray, which had a wonderful cast. The movie and play are basically similar except the book tells more about some characters and also the sideline story of the doctor of philosophy. The movie has more license to go to different locations, as the bar where Cherie worked and also the rodeo, whereas the play all the scenes are at the bus stop and all activities that the movie had were talked about having happened.
The differences are in my spoiler section. This is a truly romantic story and while reading I thought about the cast, except Hope Lange who did not seem to be Elma in my mind.
Story in short- An innocent cowboy wants to marry an experienced girl who is not interested in his rough ways, refuses to marry him.
I read this play from a collection of Ingle's works.
"BUS STOP was first presented by Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens at The Music Box, New York City, on March 2, 1955, with the following cast:
ELMA DUCKWORTH, GRACE, WILL MASTERS, CHERIE, DR. GERALD LYMAN,
CARL, VIRGIL BLESSING, BO DECKER”
"SCENE: The entire play is set inside a street-corner restaurant in a small Kansas town about thirty miles west of Kansas City. The restaurant serves also as an occasional rest stop for the bus lines in the area. It is a dingy establishment with few modern improvements: scenic calendars and pretty-girl posters decorate the soiled walls, and illumination comes"
"It is 1:00 A.M. on a night in early March and a near blizzard is raging outside. Through the windows we can see the sweeping wind and flying snow. Inside, by comparison, the scene is warm and cozy, the Franklin stove radiating all the heat of which it is capable. Two young women, in uniforms that have lost their starched freshness, are employed behind the counter. ELMA is a big-eyed girl still in high school. GRACE is a more seasoned character in her thirties or early forties."
"ELMA Gee, I’m glad I’m not traveling on the bus tonight. GRACE I wonder who’s drivin’ tonight. This is Carl’s night, isn’t it? ELMA I think so. GRACE Yes it is. (Obviously the idea of CARL pleases her. She nudges ELMA confidentially) Remember, honey, I always serve Carl."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
The movie has all the saloon scenes and at the beginning Bo and Virgil first stop at the bus stop before heading to the rodeo and meeting Cherie. They return and it is pretty similar except the fight is between the sheriff, Will and Bo in the play and in the movie Carl and Bo. The play has Bo going to jail and Cherie and Virgil go to help release him. Virgil tells Bo to apologize It seems that Cherie and Bo had made love before coming to the bus stop because of physical attraction which causes the virgin Bo to want to marry Cherie. In the movie Grace and Carl flirt but in the play Carl sleeps with Grace in her private room. Grace is a grass widow, her husband is alive but not around. The doctor is not in the movie but instead some children. The doctor is middle age and has a history of seducing young girls, Elma likes him and does not see what he is doing, even when he wants to meet her in the city, making sure she does not tell anybody. He is a drunk and since she is so nice, he cannot go through with his plan to seduce Elma. At the bus stop in the play, the group of people decide to entertain each other but No feels
"(The door swings open, some of the snow flying inside, and CHERIE, a young blond
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 tarnished metal cloth edged with not luxuriant fur, a dress 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)"
"WILL (Coming to CHERIE with a professional interest) What’s the trouble, miss? CHERIE (Looking at WILL suspiciously) You a p’liceman? WILL I’m the local sheriff. ELMA (Feeling some endorsement is called for) But everyone likes him. Really!
CHERIE Well ... I ain’t askin’ t’have no one arrested. WILL Who says I’m gonna arrest anyone? What’s your trouble? CHERIE I ... I need protection. WILL What from? CHERIE There’s a man after me. He’s a cowboy. WILL (Looking around) Where is he? CHERIE He’s on the bus, asleep, him and his buddy. I jumped off the bus the very second it stopped, to make my getaway. But there ain’t no place to get away to. And he’ll be
here purty soon. You just gotta make him lemme alone."
"CHERIE He put me on the bus. I’m bein’ abducted. WILL Abducted! But you took time to pack a suitcase! CHERIE I was goin’ somewhere else, tryin’ to get away from him, but he picked me up and carried me to the bus and put me on it. I din have nothin’ to say about it at all. WILL Where’s he plan on takin’ ya?
CHERIE Says he’s got a ranch up in Montana. He says we’re gonna git married soon as we get there. ELMA You’re safe with Will here. Will is very respected around here. He’s never lost a fight. WILL What’re ya talkin’ about, Elma? Of course I’ve lost a fight ... once. ELMA Grace always said you were invincible. WILL There ain’t no one that’s ... invincible. A man’s gotta learn that, the sooner the better. A good fighter has gotta know what it is to get licked. Thass what makes the diff’rence ‘tween a fighter and a bully."
"CARL Make it a ham and cheese on rye. GRACE I’m sorry, Carl. We got no cheese. CARL What happened? Did the mice get it? GRACE None of your wise remarks. CARL O.K. Make it a ham on rye, then. GRACE (At breadbox) I’m sorry, Carl, but we got no rye, either. DR. LYMAN (Chiming in, from his table) I can vouch for that, sir. I just asked for rye, myself, and was refused. CARL Look, mister, don’t ya think ya oughta lay off that stuff till ya get home and meet the missus? DR. LYMAN The missus, did you say? (He laughs) I have no missus, sir. I’m free. I can travel the universe, with no one to await my arrival anywhere. CARL (To GRACE, bidding for a little sympathy) That’s all I ever get on my bus, drunks and hoodlums. GRACE How’s fer whole wheat, Carl? CARL O.K. Make it whole wheat."
"ELMA (Setting the doughnuts before her) Do you honestly work in a night club? CHERIE (Brightening with this recognition) Sure! I’m a chanteuse. I call m’self Cherie. ELMA That’s French, isn’t it? CHERIE I dunno. I jest seen the name once and it kinda appealed t’me. ELMA It’s French. It means “dear one.” Is that all the name you use? CHERIE Sure. Thass all the name ya need. Like Hildegarde. She’s a chanteuse, too. ELMA Chanteuse means singer. CHERIE How come you know so much? ELMA I’m taking French in high school. CHERIE Oh! (A reflective pause) I never got as far as high school. See, I was the oldest girl left in the fam’ly after my sister Violet ran away. I had two more sisters, both younger’n me, and five brothers, most of ’em older. Was they mean! Anyway, I had to quit school when I was twelve, to stay home and take care a the house and do the cookin’. I’m a real good cook. Honest!"
The differences are in my spoiler section. This is a truly romantic story and while reading I thought about the cast, except Hope Lange who did not seem to be Elma in my mind.
Story in short- An innocent cowboy wants to marry an experienced girl who is not interested in his rough ways, refuses to marry him.
I read this play from a collection of Ingle's works.
"BUS STOP was first presented by Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens at The Music Box, New York City, on March 2, 1955, with the following cast:
ELMA DUCKWORTH, GRACE, WILL MASTERS, CHERIE, DR. GERALD LYMAN,
CARL, VIRGIL BLESSING, BO DECKER”
"SCENE: The entire play is set inside a street-corner restaurant in a small Kansas town about thirty miles west of Kansas City. The restaurant serves also as an occasional rest stop for the bus lines in the area. It is a dingy establishment with few modern improvements: scenic calendars and pretty-girl posters decorate the soiled walls, and illumination comes"
"It is 1:00 A.M. on a night in early March and a near blizzard is raging outside. Through the windows we can see the sweeping wind and flying snow. Inside, by comparison, the scene is warm and cozy, the Franklin stove radiating all the heat of which it is capable. Two young women, in uniforms that have lost their starched freshness, are employed behind the counter. ELMA is a big-eyed girl still in high school. GRACE is a more seasoned character in her thirties or early forties."
"ELMA Gee, I’m glad I’m not traveling on the bus tonight. GRACE I wonder who’s drivin’ tonight. This is Carl’s night, isn’t it? ELMA I think so. GRACE Yes it is. (Obviously the idea of CARL pleases her. She nudges ELMA confidentially) Remember, honey, I always serve Carl."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
The movie has all the saloon scenes and at the beginning Bo and Virgil first stop at the bus stop before heading to the rodeo and meeting Cherie. They return and it is pretty similar except the fight is between the sheriff, Will and Bo in the play and in the movie Carl and Bo. The play has Bo going to jail and Cherie and Virgil go to help release him. Virgil tells Bo to apologize It seems that Cherie and Bo had made love before coming to the bus stop because of physical attraction which causes the virgin Bo to want to marry Cherie. In the movie Grace and Carl flirt but in the play Carl sleeps with Grace in her private room. Grace is a grass widow, her husband is alive but not around. The doctor is not in the movie but instead some children. The doctor is middle age and has a history of seducing young girls, Elma likes him and does not see what he is doing, even when he wants to meet her in the city, making sure she does not tell anybody. He is a drunk and since she is so nice, he cannot go through with his plan to seduce Elma. At the bus stop in the play, the group of people decide to entertain each other but No feels
"(The door swings open, some of the snow flying inside, and CHERIE, a young blond
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 tarnished metal cloth edged with not luxuriant fur, a dress 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)"
"WILL (Coming to CHERIE with a professional interest) What’s the trouble, miss? CHERIE (Looking at WILL suspiciously) You a p’liceman? WILL I’m the local sheriff. ELMA (Feeling some endorsement is called for) But everyone likes him. Really!
CHERIE Well ... I ain’t askin’ t’have no one arrested. WILL Who says I’m gonna arrest anyone? What’s your trouble? CHERIE I ... I need protection. WILL What from? CHERIE There’s a man after me. He’s a cowboy. WILL (Looking around) Where is he? CHERIE He’s on the bus, asleep, him and his buddy. I jumped off the bus the very second it stopped, to make my getaway. But there ain’t no place to get away to. And he’ll be
here purty soon. You just gotta make him lemme alone."
"CHERIE He put me on the bus. I’m bein’ abducted. WILL Abducted! But you took time to pack a suitcase! CHERIE I was goin’ somewhere else, tryin’ to get away from him, but he picked me up and carried me to the bus and put me on it. I din have nothin’ to say about it at all. WILL Where’s he plan on takin’ ya?
CHERIE Says he’s got a ranch up in Montana. He says we’re gonna git married soon as we get there. ELMA You’re safe with Will here. Will is very respected around here. He’s never lost a fight. WILL What’re ya talkin’ about, Elma? Of course I’ve lost a fight ... once. ELMA Grace always said you were invincible. WILL There ain’t no one that’s ... invincible. A man’s gotta learn that, the sooner the better. A good fighter has gotta know what it is to get licked. Thass what makes the diff’rence ‘tween a fighter and a bully."
"CARL Make it a ham and cheese on rye. GRACE I’m sorry, Carl. We got no cheese. CARL What happened? Did the mice get it? GRACE None of your wise remarks. CARL O.K. Make it a ham on rye, then. GRACE (At breadbox) I’m sorry, Carl, but we got no rye, either. DR. LYMAN (Chiming in, from his table) I can vouch for that, sir. I just asked for rye, myself, and was refused. CARL Look, mister, don’t ya think ya oughta lay off that stuff till ya get home and meet the missus? DR. LYMAN The missus, did you say? (He laughs) I have no missus, sir. I’m free. I can travel the universe, with no one to await my arrival anywhere. CARL (To GRACE, bidding for a little sympathy) That’s all I ever get on my bus, drunks and hoodlums. GRACE How’s fer whole wheat, Carl? CARL O.K. Make it whole wheat."
"ELMA (Setting the doughnuts before her) Do you honestly work in a night club? CHERIE (Brightening with this recognition) Sure! I’m a chanteuse. I call m’self Cherie. ELMA That’s French, isn’t it? CHERIE I dunno. I jest seen the name once and it kinda appealed t’me. ELMA It’s French. It means “dear one.” Is that all the name you use? CHERIE Sure. Thass all the name ya need. Like Hildegarde. She’s a chanteuse, too. ELMA Chanteuse means singer. CHERIE How come you know so much? ELMA I’m taking French in high school. CHERIE Oh! (A reflective pause) I never got as far as high school. See, I was the oldest girl left in the fam’ly after my sister Violet ran away. I had two more sisters, both younger’n me, and five brothers, most of ’em older. Was they mean! Anyway, I had to quit school when I was twelve, to stay home and take care a the house and do the cookin’. I’m a real good cook. Honest!"
June 19, 2025
Bus Stop by William Inge (Dramatists Play Service 1995) (812) (4056).
This is the script to the William Inge play of the same name.
Bus Stop takes place in a small town Kansas diner one night when an evening snowstorm has closed the highway. The bus from Kansas City has pulled in on its regular stop with a load of passengers only to find that they will be forced to wait idly in the diner until the roads are clear. There are a pair of cowboys aboard, one of whom is a loudly boastful young man. The young cowboy is travelling with another somewhat older ranch hand companion. The young boy is in hot pursuit of a young blonde woman passenger from the bus who he declares is travelling with him to his ranch in Montana to become his bride.
The only problem is that the blonde says that she has been kidnapped by the cowpoke and was forced to board the bus. When she asks the sheriff to protect her from the cowboy, the plot is off and rolling.
There are two other “pair bonds” of note in the diner that night that are important components to the story. One involves a tryst between the bus driver and the owner of the diner. The other involves an older male passenger who is a college professor and a high-school aged waitress at the diner.
As in most William Inge plays, (1) alcohol serves as a trigger for chaos, and (2) love is never what it appears to be.
I enjoyed this, but I’ve now read all of the William Inge work that I plan to pick up.
My rating: 7/10, finished 6/19/25 (4056).
June 22, 2021
The pandemic of the 2020s has forced me to experience theatre in a different way (all virtual). I've been able to see musicals and plays (some professional, some on the more amateur side. Attending a webinar on audio books lead me to LA Theatre Works, a group that I am sorry to say I had never heard of until a few weeks ago. LA Theatre boasts a healthy collection of plays and readings (it is still growing). 'Bus Stop' by William Inge was my second venture (courtesy of the wonderful InterLibrary Loan Department), and it was so good, I listened to it in one day. The play runs short, just under 100 pages, and the show runs around 90 minutes, filled with character action (but it isn't slow moving).
A local Kansas City Diner proves to be a safe haven for a bus driver and his passengers on a snowy evening in 1955. Stranded with nothing else to do, diner owner Grace and her waitress Elma serve the bus driver, sheriff, a cowboy, a ranch hand, a night club singer, and a professor. A play about relationships, there is a lot of quiet action going on in the play (and you can imagine even more beyond the page). There's a tidy ending for nearly everyone (excluding one character), and if I ever get the chance, 'Bus Stop' is one play that I would love to see in person or virtually. Next mission - see the film with Marilyn Monroe!
A local Kansas City Diner proves to be a safe haven for a bus driver and his passengers on a snowy evening in 1955. Stranded with nothing else to do, diner owner Grace and her waitress Elma serve the bus driver, sheriff, a cowboy, a ranch hand, a night club singer, and a professor. A play about relationships, there is a lot of quiet action going on in the play (and you can imagine even more beyond the page). There's a tidy ending for nearly everyone (excluding one character), and if I ever get the chance, 'Bus Stop' is one play that I would love to see in person or virtually. Next mission - see the film with Marilyn Monroe!
October 28, 2025
a flawed play that seems to be about the nature of love vs lust, and the loneliness that results.
Despite the penultimate scene, we cannot be any more convinced that the central characters are in love than we were in the beginning. It seems that "flattery will get you everywhere" in this play, both with the the Marilyn Monroe character, and the innocent young girl character, who just needs someone to tell her how beautiful she is.
As for the final scene, it left me sour that the diner owner would leave virgil "out in the cold" after an entire play of her being sympathetic to bus travelers. How cruel. And if Inge was trying to make a point about loneliness, what i saw instead was a guy who didn't now who he was if he didn't have to take care of somebody else, and who exiled himself in unconscious self-pity. Co-dependency can lead to resentment of the other person, combined with self-destruction.
Margot Kidder, by the way, is great in the HBO production of the filmed play. As is the supporting cast.
Despite the penultimate scene, we cannot be any more convinced that the central characters are in love than we were in the beginning. It seems that "flattery will get you everywhere" in this play, both with the the Marilyn Monroe character, and the innocent young girl character, who just needs someone to tell her how beautiful she is.
As for the final scene, it left me sour that the diner owner would leave virgil "out in the cold" after an entire play of her being sympathetic to bus travelers. How cruel. And if Inge was trying to make a point about loneliness, what i saw instead was a guy who didn't now who he was if he didn't have to take care of somebody else, and who exiled himself in unconscious self-pity. Co-dependency can lead to resentment of the other person, combined with self-destruction.
Margot Kidder, by the way, is great in the HBO production of the filmed play. As is the supporting cast.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2021
I've been making my way through the theatrical works of William Inge, a playwright from my town who I'm exposed to often. As we round out the year, we do so on his third well known play, Bus Stop. This one to me is the more lighthearted of the trio of Picnic, this, and The Dark At The Top of the Stairs. Bus Stop is a simple and warm time. Inge, being a Kansan, clearly understands the value of a close community and the ability for humans to find it in the most unlikely places, like a snowed in bus station in Kansas City. While Bus Stop lacks much of the direct malaise and uncertainty of Picnic or The Dark At the Top of the Stairs, it is still present. Loneliness is a large theme of this play, but it's turned on its head and is more idealistic than its siblings. Humans to Inge are innately lonely and cold creatures in their own little spheres, instinctually searching for others, but where they find it, there is warmth.
November 12, 2022
This play about a group of characters stranded at a Bus Stop in Kansas by a storm has the same kind of elevation of ordinary people into subjects worthy of serious interest that the playwright William Inge achieved in Picnic, his play about a small town picnic, but it doesn’t quite hit home the way Picnic does. Cherie is a heavily made up lounge singer from a very small town who’s being pursued by Bo, a rancher with an equally rural and innocent background. But Cherie’s time working at a Kansas City night club gives her a world-weary perspective that clashes with Bo’s simplistically romantic one. Bo’s hyper-aggressive pursuit of Cherie might strike the modern reader a little differently than it did the original audience for this play and that and a few other elements of the play means it doesn’t age too well. But there is still a kind of Our Town-like Americana to this play that makes it somewhat interesting.
May 19, 2025
Foundational work in American theater. It’s so funny how we take these things for granted, but we do. The question of whether or not a work is outdated tends to overwhelm the discussion of what the play is or is not. I’ll just say, obviously there are elements that feel quaint or outright reductive. Sometimes we give too much credit to the white playwrights of the 20th century (and even the 19th century) for being progressive when their intentions are far more mercenary. In the same way we write off works that feel conventional or old fashioned, especially in their world view. All this is a long way of saying some views contained in the play are outdated lol. Structurally it’s a lot of fun. It’s funny, it’s sweet.
April 6, 2019
This was the play version of the movie. I knew most of the dialogue because I have seen the movie soooo many times. I thought it was brilliantly written. I can see why it was made into the movie. It is about a 1 hour 45-minute read, but quite enjoyable.
Bo has kidnapped the lady of his dreams, Cherie (he calls her Cherry). She is trying to escape with the aid of the people that work in the bus stop where the bus was stranded due to road conditions ahead. Grace, the bus stop owner, may have had an affair with the driver, the sheriff may have assisted Cherie in getting some assistance and the cowboy may have been put in his place. Oh, but there will be a good ending to the tale. If you have seen the film you can figure it out, but if you have not, why not read the screenplay and then go see Miss Monroe in one of her finest roles.
Bo has kidnapped the lady of his dreams, Cherie (he calls her Cherry). She is trying to escape with the aid of the people that work in the bus stop where the bus was stranded due to road conditions ahead. Grace, the bus stop owner, may have had an affair with the driver, the sheriff may have assisted Cherie in getting some assistance and the cowboy may have been put in his place. Oh, but there will be a good ending to the tale. If you have seen the film you can figure it out, but if you have not, why not read the screenplay and then go see Miss Monroe in one of her finest roles.
December 15, 2024
A wide variety of relationships under a microscope in this master work. Sometimes growing is shedding who you are not, a point accented by Bo’s journey from loud mouth cowboy to shy innocent farm boy. He goes from a brute to a tender man by receiving a beating from Will the Sheriff. Will states in the beginning of the play that a fighter has to experience a loss, it’s what separates a fighter from a bully. There is so much to dissect and discuss in this play. The things a person has to share to find love. If a person is worthy of love. If it’s too late to find love. If love is worth chasing. Every character in this play is fleshed out and has something to be studied.
January 13, 2020
Bus Stop opened at the Music Box Theatre in New York on March 2, 1955. Kim Stanley starred as Cherie - I could see her in this role. Albert Salmi starred as Bo. I could not picture him so I checked out IMDB - he seems to have turned into more of a character actor and did extensive film and tv work. The play captures what I remember from the film Bus Stop, but the character of Dr. Lyman seemed out of place and unnecessary. I did not remember him - he is not in the film. I kept seeing the sex appeal and vulnerability of Marilyn Monroe as I read. Kristi & Abby Tabby
October 26, 2017
I am considering auditioning for this show later in the winter and wanted to read the script. It was ho-hummy. A lot of drama and strange issues for a random assortment of people stuck overnight at a restaurant during a snow storm. The issues seemed rather advanced (and blatently sexually progressive) for set in the 1950s. Overall it is probably a reasonably interesting show, but nothing spectacular.
May 23, 2024
I usually don't like reading plays but one of my favorite creators, Ana Wallace Johnson, mentioned it when she went to read a Steinbeck. Something about it being a good ol' American scene, and I agree. I really did like it, very entertaining. I'm sure if I could ever go see it I'd love it even more on a stage. This was just downright charming. I loved the aesthetic and the feel, it's very encapsulating.
June 2, 2025
“I like to think that people fall in love and stay that way, forever and ever.” “Maybe we have lost the ability. Maybe Man has passed that stage in his evolution wherein love is possible. Maybe life will continue to become so terrifyingly complex that man’s anxiety about his mere survival will render him too miserly to give of himself in any true relation.”
December 27, 2017
3.5/5*
I loved the characters and the setting and the concept of it all. It was just hard the picturing of these characters and it was predictable. I did enjoy it tho and will love to see this American classic on stage on day.
I loved the characters and the setting and the concept of it all. It was just hard the picturing of these characters and it was predictable. I did enjoy it tho and will love to see this American classic on stage on day.
May 3, 2019
I directed this play over 25 years ago at JU and will be directing it again at Limelight in St Augustine in Summer 2020 ... so it was time for a re-read! I love Inge and this play in particular - I'm SO excited to revisit Grace's place!
November 28, 2017
Guy kidnaps girl, calls her the wrong name the entire play, says he “wont take no for an answer” at least 20 times, they still end up falling in love. Bad.
July 3, 2018
Supposedly a comedy - Maybe in the 50s the characterizations rang truer, exaggerated, but more believable - but now they are just cartoonish.
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