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View Winners → Bus Stop at Sierra Madre Playhouse on Dec. 11
Arts Dec 08, 2017
Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. – Courtesy photo
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Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. – Courtesy photo
Sierra Madre Playhouse continues its series of free monthly staged readings of American plays on Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. with Bus Stop by William Inge, directed by Barbara Schofield.
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.
William Inge is the playwright. His other works include Picnic (Pulitzer Prize winner), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Come Back Little Sheba, A Loss of Roses, Where’s Daddy?, Natural Affection, Summer Brave.
Barbara Schofield directs. She returns to Sierra Madre Playhouse, where she has previously served as a resident director and board member. She has also directed locally at Open Fist Theatre Company, and in New York, Boston and Kansas City, for a broad range of classical and contemporary works.
“Mr. Inge has put together an uproarious comedy that never strays from the truth.”—New York Times
Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. At Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. This is just east of Pasadena. There is ample free parking behind the Playhouse. Admission: Free. Donations accepted. Reservations are not necessary. Phone: (626) 355-4318. Website: http://sierramadreplayhouse.org/free-reading-series.php
