JHUT's Bus Stop pleases with Midwest charm
The Johns Hopkins University Theatre's current production of William Inge's Bus Stop has been advertised as "a romantic comedy-drama." In other words, something for just about everyone.
Now that isn't automatically a good thing, and it might have invited a fair amount of pandering, except that director Peg Denithorne and her troupe of student actors balanced the more formulaic aspects of their chosen material against nicely-worked moments of irony and anguish. It helps that Inge's panoramic script eventually challenges and transcends a few of the Midwestern types that it sets on stage - and that it contains the kind of frank talk about sexuality that, in a play that premiered during the Eisenhower Administration, comes as a surprise. Because Bus Stop begins in a conventional tone, each of its later, offbeat notes is all the more rewarding.
On account of this, the Merrick Barn's audience can expect a plodding first act, a dynamic second and a satisfying though pathos-ridden third during this weekend's performances. It takes a few awkward introductions and corny jokes before Inge's characters are entirely in place. But once they're all assembled, it becomes clear that there isn't a dull role among them.
The JHUT production does contain a couple of inevitable and mildly distracting pieces of 1950s décor, and the actors' Great-Plains accents ring false now and then. Thankfully, these few minor defects aren't enough to undermine a show that, thanks to a perfectly-selected cast, effortlessly brought the breed of artistry behind Inge's work to the fore.
The action of Bus Stop confines itself to one frigid night in March 1955 and to one bus stop restaurant somewhere on the outskirts of Kansas City. That restaurant, Grace's Place, is run by the matronly Grace Hoylard (sophomore Evelyn Clark) and her young helper, Elma (sophomore Emily Daly).
Now and then, the "dingy establishment with few modern improvements" that Inge conceived sees a visitor, like Will the local sheriff (sophomore Richard Zheng) or Carl the bus driver (senior Anthony Chiarito). Shortly after the play begins, Carl, forced off the road by a snowstorm, arrives with his passengers. Accompanied by a nightclub singer named Cherie (freshman Emma Brodie) and a cultured Easterner named Dr. Lyman (junior Nicholas Scamman), he seeks refuge in the more or less deserted restaurant.
Now that isn't automatically a good thing, and it might have invited a fair amount of pandering, except that director Peg Denithorne and her troupe of student actors balanced the more formulaic aspects of their chosen material against nicely-worked moments of irony and anguish. It helps that Inge's panoramic script eventually challenges and transcends a few of the Midwestern types that it sets on stage - and that it contains the kind of frank talk about sexuality that, in a play that premiered during the Eisenhower Administration, comes as a surprise. Because Bus Stop begins in a conventional tone, each of its later, offbeat notes is all the more rewarding.
On account of this, the Merrick Barn's audience can expect a plodding first act, a dynamic second and a satisfying though pathos-ridden third during this weekend's performances. It takes a few awkward introductions and corny jokes before Inge's characters are entirely in place. But once they're all assembled, it becomes clear that there isn't a dull role among them.
The JHUT production does contain a couple of inevitable and mildly distracting pieces of 1950s décor, and the actors' Great-Plains accents ring false now and then. Thankfully, these few minor defects aren't enough to undermine a show that, thanks to a perfectly-selected cast, effortlessly brought the breed of artistry behind Inge's work to the fore.
The action of Bus Stop confines itself to one frigid night in March 1955 and to one bus stop restaurant somewhere on the outskirts of Kansas City. That restaurant, Grace's Place, is run by the matronly Grace Hoylard (sophomore Evelyn Clark) and her young helper, Elma (sophomore Emily Daly).
Now and then, the "dingy establishment with few modern improvements" that Inge conceived sees a visitor, like Will the local sheriff (sophomore Richard Zheng) or Carl the bus driver (senior Anthony Chiarito). Shortly after the play begins, Carl, forced off the road by a snowstorm, arrives with his passengers. Accompanied by a nightclub singer named Cherie (freshman Emma Brodie) and a cultured Easterner named Dr. Lyman (junior Nicholas Scamman), he seeks refuge in the more or less deserted restaurant.
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