Catching up

Went and saw the UW Professional Actor/Director's Training Program's production of William Inge's Bus Stop.  Four passengers and a driver stranded at a diner overnight due to a snowstorm: a night club singer, Cherie (Hazel Lozano/Tatiana Pavela); two cowboys from Montana, Virgil Blessing (Skye Edwards/Aaron Francis Cammack) and Bo Decker (AJ Friday/Skye Edwards), the latter of which has "abducted" Cherie to take her back to Montana and marry her; and Dr. Gerald Lyman, a three-time divorcee.  The bus driver, Carl (Thomas Allen), takes up a relationship with the owner of the diner, Grace Hoylard (Jess Moss/Hazel Lozano), while Dr. Lyman (Richard Hesik), hits on the young waitress, Elma Duckworth (Tatiana Pavela/Jess Moss.)   Cherie asks the Sheriff, Will Masters (Aaron Francis Cammack/AJ Friday), to protect her from Bo.  The night wears on.

In the morning, the roads clear enough to leave: Dr. Lyman is outed, to Grace and later, Elma, to be a lecher; Cherie decides she will go to Montana afterall; and Virgil removes himself from the picture, saying that he has other offers.  His character is the most ambiguous: did he harbor feelings for Bo?  Did he hope to get lucky with Grace?  Did he leave to give Bo a fighting chance at a life with Cherie?  Didn't know.  In the end, he's left out in the snow to wait for the next bus with no one to keep him company.

Upon leaving, one of the women behind me told her friend that she thought the play was dated.  That doesn't bother me, if the story playing on the stage is believable, the actors believe in it, I'll go wherever they go, and live in their world (1950's Kansas), and this one was for me.

What was interesting about this production was that it was split in half, with Sean Ryan directing Act I and the first six pages of Act II; and Act II and III being directed by Malika Oyetimein.  There was an overlap of the six pages in Act II.  The same group of actors were cast in the two halves, but with the exception of the roles of Carl and Dr. Lyman, all the actors switched roles between the two halves, and the set was re-imagined.   What struck me most about this performance, was the choices the actors made in playing the two different roles.  How the characters were very distinct between the two halves, and didn't seem influenced by the other actor's interpretation of the same role (and obviously they saw it, they were all in rehearsals together.)  I was impressed with how well they held their vision of each character.  And I think the outcome would have felt different had the casting not shifted, for instance, Cherie in the first half was classy and could sing and you could  imagine she worked at a Jazz club; while Cherie in the second half was more bawdy and could not sing, and you could imagine her club was more about showing off her wares.  Going to Montana for the first would be more of a loss since she had talent, and where would she use that on a ranch?  For the second, it would be the opportunity to start over and have a new life, since working in the club wasn't any calling, just a way to pay the bills.  So deciding suddenly to agree to go with Bo, made more sense for the second version of Cherie.

I liked it.  I liked the second casting more, but I think that might have to do with the first Act being more of a set-up for the rest of the play, and the action taking place in the second half.  Cool experiment.

(I'm catching up on the four posts I've started and haven't had the energy to finish, so apologies for not being very concise.)