Mkamas Print
ulture 5
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Loneliness
Vercomeat
Bus Stop
^■Walters
Editor
^^^^■reacherously blustery night, a long hiatus of the
at a®m street-comer diner in a blink-and-you’H-miss-it
sas tdSis caused by blocked roads.
^^Kome is a relieving of lonesomeness of the heart
^Kn a couple other cases.
>uch isyc central theme of Clackamas’ current theatre pro-
Stop,” the myriad of differing desires, including
infatuwon and, I dare say, even love.
Jwned b . a jaded 40-something woman named Grace
to is aBost never at a loss for words or sexual appetite - the
r normally serves as a 20-minute pit stop for the bus from
. sas City It’s a place of employment for naïve, yet quick-
j^^^Kirl Elma Duckworth.
t also «the sole backdrop for the play.
specifically focuses on the few hours of the
Grace’s Diner by the bus riders, plus the driver
J Will Masters, is a staunch man with a deep
and has never been licked in a fight, except
Photos by John Shufelt Clackamas Print
TOP: Elma, a young waitress at Grace’s Diner, listens in raptureous intent to bus passenger
Cherie talk about sex, her job as a nightclub singer and cowboy Bo Decker.
BOTTOMr LEFT: Grace, the owner of the diner, pours a mug of hot coffee for Sheriff Will
Masters as they wait for the bus to arrive.
for once.
Will waits for the bus to arrive with the diner women so
that he can inform the driver that night, Cari, that he can go no
further until foe weather and roads clear up.
The first passenger to enter is a 19-year-old, glitzy-dressed
nightclub singer from Kansas City who calls herself Cherie.
Immediately following the bus’ screedung halt outside,
Cherie rushes in with a battered suitcase to seek refuge and asks
Will for his protection.
The object of her fear is
wealthy cowboy Bo Decker,
who she claims abducted her
to bring to his Montana ranch
asavrifeT
Bo and his father figure,
Virgil Blessing, are asleep
on the bus, and Cherie uses
the opportunity to attempt an
escape.
The only other passen
ger, grey-haired Dr. Gerald
Lyman, soon follows. He fix
ates with pedophilic delight on Elma behind the counter and sit
uates himself close by in order to engage her in conversation.
Carl enters and, after passing on a couple suspicious com
ments about his passengers to Will and arousing the cowboys,
excuses himself to go for a “walk.”
A couple of minutes later, suddenly stricken with a “head
ache,” Grace retires to her upstairs apartment
Neither of the two are seen again for quite awhile, which
leaves the diner’s operations in the capable hands of young
Elma.
With Will prompting her and keeping a watchful eye,
Cherie soon communicates to Bo that she doesn’t want to go
with him.
Hiding under a mask of brutish manners and seemingly
cocky exterior, Bo refuses to take no for an answer.
Throughout the rest of the three-act play, Bo is gently
advised tty the Cahn Virgil to be “tender” to Cherie rather than
maul her, and Will is ever-ready to stand in between the cowboy
and “his woman” when Bo’s temper flares.
In the meantime, Dr.
Lyman spouts sonnets from
Shakespeare and regales Elma
with tales of his three ex-wives
and past as a professor, staring
lecherously all the while and
producing a flask to fuel his
penchant for alcohol.
Blending dirty humor,
underlying tones of realism
and foe small-town mental
ity into an intriguing cocktail,
William Inge’s “Bus Stop” can
easily be understood by foe
modem college audience.
Clackamas’ rendition is well worth foe price of a ticket
because of foe commendable acting by members of foe col
lege’s student body - both veterans and newcomers alike.
Showings of "Bus Step” start at 7:30 pan. May 29,30 and
31, with foe final show Sunday, June 1, at 2:30 p.m.
Ticket cost is $12 for general admission and staff, and $10
for seniors or students with a college ID card.
For further information, contact Theatre Department
Secretary Jennifer Schwartzman at ext 2356 or by e-mail at
jens@clackamas.edu.
Blending dirty humor, underlying
tones of realism and the small
town mentality into an intriguing
cocktail, William Inge’s “Bus
Stop” can easily be understood by
the modern college audience.
Two bands competed in
the Battle of the Bands
at Clackamas on
Wednesday, May 21.
- Compiled by
Robert Crawford