BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Stranded by a severe winter storm in 1950’s Kansas, a group of weary passengers settles into a roadside diner for the night. But it turns out to be just as stormy inside, as the unlikely companions confront shared feelings of loneliness and longing. One of them, a lounge singer, reveals that she has been kidnapped by a belligerent cowboy who plans to take her back to his isolated ranch and marry her (that is, unless the local police chief can stop him first). Another, an aging professor, attempts to lure a young waitress into spending a night with him in the city. And the bus driver, a frequent visitor to the diner, seizes his chance for a rendezvous with its owner. Although none of the relationships may seem to hold much promise, they all find a way to silence the storm. OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Identify key issues in Bus Stop including: - Small-town life and big-city dreams - Young love - Loneliness and longing - Self-discovery 2. Relate themes and issues in the play to their own lives. 3. Analyze the themes and issues within the historical and social context of the play. 4. Participate in hands-on activities that enhance understanding of the production. 5. Evaluate the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Bus Stop.
PREPARATION FOR BUS STOP WILLIAM INGE William Inge is often referred to as the “Playwright of the Midwest,� because his writing captures both the joys and sorrows of life in small-town America. Inge grew up in Kansas, where his mother ran a boarding house during his early childhood. The women he met there had a great influence on him, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Picnic, is based on his insights about these boarders and the sadness of their lives. He wrote many dramatic plays, novels, and screenplays (one of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Writing of an Original Screenplay). Research Mr. Inge's life, his upbringing in Lawrence, Kansas, his development as a teacher and a playwright, and his position in the 20th century of American Theater.
THE ROADSIDE DINER Bus Stop is set in a small diner along the highway. It is a perfect spot for strangers to meet, for people to hash out their differences, and for everyone else to get a decent meal. Diners saw their peak during the 1950s, and have since maintained the status of an American icon. With interesting architecture, neon lights, and a slice of pie for each visitor, it is no surprise that this setting is commonplace in American literature, movies, books, or television shows. Research the Midwest and Central Kansas in particular, and the cultural phenomenon of the roadside diner, and make a case for why Bus Stop could not be set anywhere else.
THE 1950s Individually or in a group, make a time line covering the period of this play, the 1950s. Research information on the news of those years, economics, popular movies, music, theatre, books, scientific and technological discoveries, sports, women's roles, fashion and any other heading that might interest you.
KEY ISSUES Small-Town Life and Big-City Dreams For the characters in Bus Stop, there is a stark contrast between “Small Town USA” and the “Big City.” They are stranded between two metropolitan areas, St. Louis and Topeka, examining where they have come from and where they are going. But where do these characters belong? It seems that Dr. Lyman is looking for a city in which to disappear, while Bo prefers his ranch far away from the rodeo scene. Grace must face the fact that her birth and death might happen in the same place, while her youthful employee, Elma, recounts her adventures in Topeka. What is the play saying about small-town and big-city life? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? Are they really so different? If you have lived in one setting and recently moved to another, share your experience in adapting to the change. Young Love The passion between young Cherie and Bo is quite different from the casual relationship between the older Grace and Carl. The ups and downs of their time together, their dramatic fights, and Cherie’s sudden change of heart at the end of the play all make sense in context of their age and immaturity. Grace and Carl are more pragmatic. They take advantage of the opportunity and convenience of their affair, accepting it for what it is, seemingly unconcerned with whether it will lead to anything more. What is it that makes “young love” so intense? Can that feeling be recaptured later in life? How, if at all, do our attitudes about love change over time? Loneliness and Longing If the characters in Bus Stop have one thing in common, it is loneliness. They all long for a love they have not yet found, and fear they may never find it. Dr. Lyman suggests that fear might be the reason for their loneliness, in that love requires people to “give up some thing of themselves,” and many people are either afraid or unwilling to do so. The play is, in part, about characters learning to overcome that fear. But it ends with Virgil’s sad reminder that “some people” are “just left out in the cold.” Why do humans long for love and feel lonely when they do not have it? What things must we give up to get it? Self-Discovery Although both Bo and Dr. Lyman exude confidence, neither has everything figured out. Bo thinks that he can catch a girl like he catches cattle, not realizing the respect and kindness that marriage requires. And Dr. Lyman, despite constantly quoting Shakespeare on love and happiness, has been unable to attain them in his own life due to a long trail of mistakes. During the play, both characters take a journey of self-discovery, recognizing their shortcomings and beginning to conquer them. By the end of the play,
Bo is showing Cherie the respect she deserves, and Dr. Lyman has the self-control not to take advantage of young Elma. What made those personal breakthroughs possible? OPEN RESPONSE AND WRITING Open Response Assessment Instructions to the students: Please answer the following as thoroughly as possible in a well-planned and carefully written paragraph. Remember to use topic sentences and examples from the text. Share your paragraphs orally with the rest of the class. 1. Is Bus Stop a fitting title for this play? 2. At the beginning of the play, Grace teases Elma that she is too smart for the boys in her class. Do you think that is why she has never had a boyfriend? 3. Was Cherie every truly “kidnapped” by Bo? 4. According to the stage directions, Dr. Lyman is a “thoroughly selfish performer [as Romeo] who reads all his speeches as though they were grand soliloquies, regarding his Juliet as a prop.” How can actors make their performances less selfish? 5. Both Will and Bo have a very strong sense of pride. How are they similar in that regard, and how are they different? 6. Dr. Lyman predicts “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 to any true relation.” Does modern life make it harder to find love and to avoid loneliness? 7. Do you fault Grace for agreeing to a secret rendezvous with Carl, not knowing if he is a married man? Why or why not? 8. Why is Bo so surprised to hear that Cherie does not love him? 9. Do you think Dr. Lyman is a criminal? Why or why not? 10. Inge’s depiction of small-town life in Bus Stop is usually categorized not as a drama, but a comedy. Do you agree that this play is a comic one? Or do you think it tackles more serious topics? If you were telling someone about this production, would you describe it as light-hearted or a show you really have to think about? Writing Assignments 1. How would Bus Stop have been different if Cherie chose not to marry Bo and follow him to Montana? Write a new ending.
2. Bo is ashamed to admit that he has never been with a woman, while Cherie is ashamed to admit that she has been with many men. Why do you think that this is the case? 3. Dr. Lyman says, “whether [or not] there is such a thing as love, we can always pretend there is.” Do you think love is real or imaginary? If it’s real, what makes it so? If it’s imaginary, should we pretend that it’s real? 4. Grace says, “I’ll prob’ly die in this little town and they’ll bury me out by the backhouse.” Is that a sad thought or a comforting one? 5. Dr. Lyman compares love to an inheritance, suggesting that humans feel entitled to it and will fight, even with those closest to them, to get it. Do you agree with this idea? Why or why not? 6. Cherie, as a singer, doesn’t think it’s fair that in talent contests she must compete with “jugglers and knife-throwers.” Do you think of any award shows like that? And do you agree with her point? 7. Describe the relationship between Bo and Virgil. Is it surprising the way the play ends? 8. Do you think Bo is a “successful” person? Why or why not? 9. Select one of the following quotes and discuss it in essay form. “That’s the trouble with you Easterners. You don’t know anything about any of the country west of the Hudson River.” “Educators…have despaired of ever teaching students anything, so they have decided the second-best thing to do is to understand them.” “I have disapproved of my entire life … but I suppose I couldn’t resist living it over again. “I never had the generosity to love, to give my own most private self to another, for I was weak. I thought the gift would somehow lessen me.” 10. Write a critical review of the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Bus Stop and submit it for publication to your school newspaper, or website. Be sure to send the Huntington a copy!
MASTERY ASSESSMENT ACT ONE 1. What is the setting of the play? 2. What is happening outside? 3. For what is Grace preparing her restaurant? 4. What happened between Grace and her husband? 5. What is Elma’s role at the restaurant? 6. Who is Will, and what news does he share with Grace and Elma? 7. Where is the bus coming from, and where is it going next? 8. What is Cherie’s problem? 9. What is Dr. Lyman’s marital status? What does he do with his days? 10. What cliché do the characters keep repeating about the month of March? 11. Where does Carl want to go with Grace, and what excuses do they give for going there? 12. What is Bo’s background, and what competitions has he been winning? 13. What does Bo call Cherie that annoys her? 14. How does Bo discover that Cherie is planning a getaway? 15. Who confronts Bo, and what does he say that bothers Bo? ACT TWO 1. Why did Dr. Lyman quit his job as a college professor? 2. What does Dr. Lyman arrange to do with Elma? 3. How did Cherie and Bo meet, and how did they end up on the bus together? 4. Why is Virgil an important part of Bo’s life? 5. What does Cherie want from her future husband that she feels Bo cannot provide?
6. What example does Virgil give to show Bo’s softer side? 7. What makes Bo jealous of Virgil? 8. What idea does Elma have for entertaining everyone at the restaurant? 9. What instrument does Virgil play? 10. What play and scene do Dr. Lyman and Elma perform? 11. What happens during Cherie’s song that upsets her? 12. Where does Bo try to take Cherie, and who stops him? 13. What secret does Virgil share with Cherie? ACT THREE 1. What crime has Bo committed, according to Will? 2. What does Will require Bo to do in order to get out of jail? 3. What does Bo give Cherie to help her on her way? 4. What secret does Cherie admit to Bo? 5. What important event in Will’s life stopped his criminal ways? 6. What makes Cherie change her mind about Bo? 7. Why has Professor Lyman been in trouble with the law? 8. What does Cherie finally decide about Bo’s proposal? 9. What news does Virgil announce to Bo?
ARTS ASSESSMENT The following exercises are interactive, hands-on challenges in drama, music, art, and design. They aim to give students a better understanding of the many tasks that contribute to a theatrical production. Characterization Have each student choose a character from Bus Stop to portray. As if preparing for the role in rehearsal, ask students to answer the following questions about their characters: (a) What is my objective in the play, and which obstacles stand in my way? (b) How, if at all, does my character transform during the course of the play? (c) Are there any contradictions inherent in my character? (d) What do other characters think of my character, and what does my character think of them? Acting (1) Have students form small groups to act out a scene from the play. Select an important moment from Bus Stop. Use props and costumes, if possible, to enhance the performance. Students should consider their placement on the stage, blocking (who moves where and when), gestures, vocal tone, and the intended emotional impact of the scene. Use the Characterization activity above to help students develop their assigned roles. (2) Divide students into groups of four or five. Ask students to set the scene for an improvisational activity. As in Bus Stop, a bus has just arrived at a small roadside diner during a Kansas snowstorm. At least one person should be operating the diner and the rest of the students can be passengers or other locals. Before the improv begins, each actor in the scene should give a brief character description (e.g., I’m a pediatrician from Massachusetts trying to get to Nevada to see my sister’s sick baby). Ask students to develop an original scene, not just copy the plot of Bus Stop! Music Billy Joel, a popular musician, wrote a famous song in 1973 called “Piano Man.” The song is somewhat reminiscent of Bus Stop in that it tells the story of a number of lonely strangers who come to a piano bar at night, as seen from the point of view of the piano player. If you are not familiar with this song, do some research and use “Piano Man” as inspiration for the task of writing your own song based on the play you have just read. What happened in Bus Stop between the characters? Write lyrics to a song that tell the story of this stranded bus on its way through Kansas. If you are nervous about writing a song, remember this is only one step of the process! Visual Art A very important part of putting on a play is creating the advertising to bring in the audience. It’s no fun putting on a play without people to see it! Design a poster and program to entice and intrigue potential audience members. Remember to include (fictional) dates of the performance, price of tickets, etc. Your designs, in whatever medium you choose, should reflect the mood and tone of the play. How do you sum up Bus Stop in a picture?
FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION 1. Did you know that there are two Kansas Cities, one in Kansas and one in Missouri? Compare and contrast the twin cities. 2. When she was younger, Cherie narrowly escaped a life-threatening flood and lost contact with family. Do some research about the place where Cherie grew up called the Ozarks. Can you locate the Ozarks on a map? How do current residents and those from the past deal with the threat of flooding in this area? Describe some of the geographical points of interest and the cultural significance of this region. 3. Bus Stop was made into a major motion picture in 1956, starring the famous actress Marilyn Monroe. Find the movie and watch it, paying careful attention to how it differs from the play. What are the main differences, and what do you think is the reason for them? Identify any character(s) who seemed different in the movie from how you imagined them when reading the play, and describe those differences. 4. When Cherie says “somewhere deep down inside me, I gotta funny feelin’ I’m gonna end up in Montana,” the playwright is using a technique called foreshadowing. What is foreshadowing? And what ultimately happens to Cherie? 5. If you were assigned to be the Dramaturg for a production of Bus Stop, what research and visual stimulation would you provide for the director and actors at the first rehearsal? This play was first presented in 1955 so, for the sake of this assignment, assume that is the year in which this play is set. 6. In an attempt to entertain themselves, the locals and bus passengers decide to stage a talent show on that long, cold night in Kansas. Have you ever put on a talent show? Can any of your friends juggle or recite a famous poem? What makes for a good talent show? Develop a plan to host a talent show at your school to raise funds for your community. Present your proposal to the principal and student council. Good luck! 7. William Inge wrote more than 25 plays. Research his work, and choose one of his other plays to read. In what ways is your chosen play similar to Bus Stop? In what ways do they differ? Imagine you are a theatre artistic director and you are choosing between the two Inge plays that you have read for your upcoming season. Which play earned a stronger response upon reading? What factors for a play's appeal to an audience would you need to consider? Which play would you choose and why? 8. Find out about America’s love affair with rodeos and cowboy culture. The character of Bo in Bus Stop is serious about the profession and its potential for publicity. Rodeo stars were a regular feature of major news magazines during this time period. What kind of reality existed for an American cowboy during the middle generations of the 1950s?
HANDOUT #1: VOCABULARY Alimony Arbitrary Ballad Belligerent Benignly Blithely Cavalier Chiding Civil Confidante Convocation Coquettish Corpulent Disillusionment Fervent Fraught Furrow Gallant Idyllic Indignant Insolent Lackadaisically Louse Melancholy Monotonous Ornery Paraphernalia Pathos Penitentiary Percolator Picturesque Polecat Proprietor Rapturous Remorse Rendition Reprobate Repugnance Solicit Subside Unkempt Voluptuous
HANDOUT #2: SPOTTING SHAKESPEARE It is not uncommon for plays and books to cite outside sources or even to quote famous lines in their own text. Dr. Lyman, one of the characters in Bus Stop, has a habit of quoting Shakespeare. In the space below, identify the Shakespearean play or sonnet from which the line or passage comes and, after reading it in context, try your best to summarize its meaning. QUOTE “This castle hath a pleasant seat.”
SOURCE
MEANING
“Nymph in thy orisons, be all my sins remembered!”
“That time of year thou may’st in me behold / When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang / Upon those boughs –” “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day? / Thou are more lovely and more temperate: / Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, / And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy; / Thou art thyself though, not a Montague. / What’s a Montague? It is not hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, or any other part / Belonging to a man. O! be some other name”
Extra Credit: Can you find any other lines in Bus Stop that are not the playwright’s? Identify their source and their meaning in context as well.
LESSON PLANS Teachers’ Note: Choose activities that are appropriate for your classroom period. All assignments are suggestions. Only a teacher knows his or her class well enough to determine the level and depth to which any piece of literature may be examined. ONE-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the context and major themes of the production. DAY ONE – Introducing the Play 1. Distribute Mastery Assessment (P.X) for Bus Stop for students to read before the performance and to review again after attending it. Optional: Distribute Vocabulary Handout 1 and ask students to define each word. 2. Read the Synopsis (P.X) of the play. Discuss other works students have studied with similar themes and issues. 3. If time allows, discuss further pages from the literary guide, narrating highlights for students. FOUR-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the production and then, after viewing the performance, asks them to think critically about what they have seen. Includes time for class discussion and individual assessment. DAY ONE – Introducing the Play Same as Day One above; completed before seeing the production. DAY TWO – The Production Attend the performance at the Huntington Theatre Company. Homework: Students should answer the Mastery Assessment questions. DAY THREE – Follow-up Discussion Discuss Mastery Assessment answers in class. DAY FOUR – Test Individual Assessment: Choose either several questions from the Open Response or two questions from Writing Assignments (P.X) for students to answer in one class period. Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration or Media Assessment tasks to complete for extra credit.
SEVEN-DAY LESSON PLAN completely integrates Bus Stop into your schedule. Within seven school days, you can introduce the play, assign reading and vocabulary, and assess your students. Students will ideally view the play after completing Mastery Assessment questions. DAY ONE – Introducing the play Same as Day One above. Optional: Distribute Vocabulary Handout due on Day Four. Homework: Read Act One and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions. DAY TWO – Act One Discuss the first part of the play and answers to Mastery Assessment questions. Homework: Read Act Two and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions. DAY THREE – Act Two Discuss Act Two and answers to Mastery Assessment questions. Homework: Read Act Three Optional: Complete Vocabulary Handout for homework. DAY FOUR – Act Three Discuss Act Three and corresponding Mastery Assessment questions. Form groups to complete Handout 2: Identifying Shakespeare (P.X.) Leave time for class discussion. Optional: Review Vocabulary Handout. DAY FIVE – Attend Performance Optional: Students may choose to complete one of the For Further Exploration or Media Assessment tasks for extra credit. DAY SIX – Review/Preparation Students should answer the Open Response questions as preparation for their test the following day. DAY SEVEN – Test Individual Assessment: Choose two questions from the Writing Assignments for students to answer in one class period.
RELATED WORKS AND RESOURCES To broaden your familiarity with William Inge and the key topics in the play, consider consulting the following resources: Plays A Loss of Roses by William Inge (1959) Natural Affection by William Inge (1963) Picnic by William Inge (1953) The Dark at the Top of the Stairs by William Inge (1958) Come back Little Sheba by William Inge (1950) Books The American Diner by Michael Karl Witzel (2006) A Life of William Inge: The Strains of Triumph by Ralph F. Voss (1990) A Living History of the Ozarks by Phyllis Rossiter (1992) Movie Love in the Fifties by James Harvey (2002) DVDs Bus Stop starring Marilyn Monroe and directed by Joshua Logan (1956) Diner directed by Barry Levinson (1982) High Noon directed by Fred Zinnemann (1952)