Get stuck at the "Bus Stop"
The IU Southeast Theatre Department will perform the Pulitzer Prize winning play Bus Stop beginning on Feb. 22. Visiting assistant professor of theatre, Michael Morris, will direct the play that was written by William Inge.
The theatre department at IU Southeast will perform "Bus Stop" -- a Pulitzer Prize winning play.
Morris most recently directed the theatre department's rendition of Proof. He describes Bus Stop as an American classic and "a romantic comedy with serious overtones."
Some may be familiar with the 1956 movie version of Bus Stop, starring Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray and directed by Joshua Logan. In the movie, cowboy Bo Decker (Murray), in town for the rodeo, meets café singer Cherie (Monroe), and instantly falls in love. Cherie tries to escape by fleeing to Los Angeles, but Bo catches up with her. He forces Cherie to board a bus homeward-bound for Montana, where he plans to marry her.
When the bus stops at Grace's Diner, the passengers learn that their trip will be delayed indefinitely due to a snowstorm. Brief glimpses into their lives, as well as Bo and Cherie's, is the focal point of the play.
IU Southeast's production of Bus Stop will not include the cross-country elements of the movie, but instead will center on the lives and drama of the stranded travelers brought together at the bus stop. The significance of the story is how the characters in the play relate to each other. Though the characters were composed 50 years ago, it's interesting to note the similarities and differences to people today.
"You are struck by the fact that people now view things differently than 50 years ago, but that basically, people are the same," Morris said.
Rebekkah Meixner, assistant professor of technical theatre, is in charge of designing scenery and costumes and for creating moods on stage through sound and lighting. Meixner says that everything the audience will see on stage is the result of one to two months of research. After her research, she draws up extensive blueprints for her students to use to build the sets
"From start to finish, it will take five weeks of building for Bus Stop," Meixner said, "and it typically goes down to the wire."
Bus Stop premiers on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m., at the Ogle Center. It continues on Feb. 23 and 24 at the same time. There will be a matinee show on Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. The next week, performances will be on March 1, 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. The final show will be a matinee on March 4 at 2:30 p.m.
