The post-World War II period is often referred to as the "Golden age" of theatre. Much of this has to do with the theatre being blessed with the voices of Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and a playwright whose work we present William Inge.
In 1943, William Inge was the music, drama, and movie critic for the St. Louis Star-Times. As he was reviewing plays he also tried his hand at writing them, but the final motivation to pursue playwriting did not occur until a few years later. After Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie opened in Chicago 1n 1944, Tennessee fled to his parents' home in St. Louis for some respite from all the attention he was getting. William Inge, as reporter contacted Tennessee who agreed to a "local-boy-makes-good" interview. A few weeks later, William Inge went up to Chicago to see The Glass Menagerie and was so moved by what he experienced that he went backstage to find Tennessee and told him that "being a successful playwright was what I most want for myself." Tennessee agreed to provide advice and eventually connected him with his own agent, Audrey Wood. I wonder if either of them realized that within a few years each would be awarded the Pulitzer for drama.
Bus Stop was originally produced in 1955 after Inge had won the Pulitzer for Picnic. Although Williams and Miller can be viewed as playwrights who set off explosions, Inge's gift laid in his ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary and to provide an authentic reflection of Midwestern life. In Bus Stop he shows us the special place he has for those who take the risk of trying to live by their talents, beauty, or wits, without a penny in the world, homeless, rootless, on the move. Much like the risks he took in his own life to pursue his vocation of playwriting. Tonight you will encounter (among others) a rowdy cowboy, a stern Sheriff, a nightclub singer, a hearty truckdriver, and an alcoholic professor, who can quote Shakespeare-who in the hands of a less gifted playwright could easily be stock characters. In Inge's hands they have a depth and authenticity which has endeared them to audiences for many years.
- Dan Kavanaugh
