Bus Stop A seedy little diner in Kansas becomes a temporary haven for several passengers on a bus when a howling snowstorm shuts down the roads. First produced in 1955, William Inge's Bus Stop has a gentle sort of innocence about it, made all the more poignant by the freshness of the actors involved in this production, most of whom are only about half as old as the play! One of the inadvertently better kept secrets around town is the prestigious Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House Master’s of Fine Arts program, wherein a select group of students is chosen by audition as candidates for the MFA program. Last fall, the third-year students debuted with rotating reparatory productions of Twelfth Night and Hay Fever. Now it is the turn of the first-year candidates. Students in this program learn all facets of theatre; the technical and back-stage work as well as on-stage. They work closely with the resident technical and artistic staff at the Play House, and may also appear in the Main Stage productions—as in Vincent in Brixton, which ran during most of February.

Professional technical staff from the Play House provide an excellent foundation for this production: the Set Design by Jill Davis is so realistic you'll swear you've been in that diner dozens of times. Kazuko Inoue outdid herself with the Costume Design, especially those of Cherie. Lighting Design by Maureen Patterson adds believability to the advancing time in the diner and the realistic Sound Design by Richard Ingraham will have you thinking you might be experiencing a blizzard in reality. Bus Stop is more concerned about the inner workings of the people involved rather than being an in-your-face reality show. The characters all have depth to them, and these young actors have been encouraged to plumb those depths and then display what they've found. This is a rare treat for those Clevelanders who love theatre; you can follow these young professionals for the next years as they progress through their training—and—someday when you see them on another stage or the big screen, you'll be able to say "I saw him (or her) when he was just starting out." However, all actors—whether veteran or just beginning—need an audience. Bus Stop is on stage in the historic Brooks Theatre of The Cleveland Play House complex from March 30 through April 11. http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com from Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz

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