Theodore Graves The Bus Stop

CHARACTERS The Bus Stop

Theodore Graves

MAN WITH RED HAT MAN IN GREY COAT

Character descriptions:

Man with red hat: a tall, thin older gentleman with gray beard, wearing a red cap to protect his balding head from the cold winter air while waiting at a bus stop. Man in grey coat: a short and stout, cleanshaven older man, wearing a large grey coat who sits down next to the man with red hat.

[The play begins as the stage curtains unfold to reveal a brightly lit, albeit aesthetically dull bus stop in early winter. There is no snow on the ground, but the lighting suggests an overcast, cold day. Behind the bus stop are various brown, nondescript urban townhouses showing the scene takes place in a large city. This is furthered by a plethora of sounds typical to an industrial setting, such as construction work and distant car alarms. At the bus stop sits a man with a red hat, waiting for the bus to arrive so he can get to his unspecified destination. Another gentleman wearing a grey coat similar in age comes out from offstage on the left side and walks towards the bus stop before stopping] Man in grey coat (GC): is this seat taken? [GC points at the seat next to the man in the red hat] Man with red hat (RH) [looking up at GC while pointing at seat]:This one? Right here? No, it’s not. Have a seat if you’d like. [GC sits down next to RH, and both men look away in an awkward silence for a few moments before GC strikes up conversation] GC [turns to look at RH]: This city has changed a lot since my youth. Matter of fact, right over there [motions diagonally offstage towards audience] used to be my old elementary school. They tore it down a couple of years ago to put in that new community center. It’s a shame, really. RH [turns to GC, surprised]: Elementary school? You mean John Edwards Elementary? I went there too! GC: Really? What a coincidence! Which years? RH: ’75-79. What about you? GC: ’75-79, too!

RH [grinning]: That’s amazing! It really is a small world! GC: I guess it is. Say, do you remember Mrs. Crabinch? The teacher who used to give out cookies during recess to any kid in school who could sing the alphabet backwards in under 10 seconds? RH: The one with the red hair who always wore those big yellow glasses? Sure do! I could never sing it fast enough, though. GC [contently]: This is such a pleasure to reminisce with someone! Do you remember that big broken swing set the kids used to dare each other to climb? RH: Yeah, the rusty one the principal always warned us over the school announcements not to play on? GC: What a hard-ass! Remember when he fenced off that big mud pit everyone used to play in? What a joke! RH: Yeah, and he’d give any kid with mud on their clothes after recess a week’s detention! God, I almost forgot about Mr. Bensfield. Every time I think back to when that kid Jimmy Hoffield put a tack on his seat during assembly, I burst out laughing [begins to chuckle]. GC [laughing with RH]: He was a such a dick! He was almost as bad as that kid Andy… Wakerson? Now, that kid was a real pest! Remember how much of a teacher’s pet he was, always telling on the other kids over nothing? Everyone hatedthat kid so much! RH [shocked look on face]: Um… no, not really. I don’t remember him; was there anything else about him you can recall? GC: No, not much. But I do remember egging his house with my friends every time he snitched on us. [smiling] Now, those were some good times! RH [taken aback]: Well… I mean he sounds pretty annoying, but he couldn’t have been as bad as that little Stevie Ashford. That kid used to steal from everybody! Teachers, janitors, the other kids; you name it! Now, that was a kid everyone hated! [GC stares blankly at RH as his face goes white and eyes bulge] RH [continuing on gleefully]: Remember that time in the locker room after gym class when the boys rubbed poison ivy on his underwear, and he didn’t come back to school for a week? It was hilarious! [begins to chuckle]. [GC looks shocked as the sound of a bus from down the street interrupts the conversation] RH: Well, looks like it’s coming this way. It was fun talking to you… um… I actually didn’t catch your name. GC [embarrassed]: Steven… Ashford. And you? RH [shocked]: Um… Andrew Wakerson. [The two men stare at each other before turning away embarrassed as the curtain closes].