The Adobe Theater makes a 'Bus Stop' in the 1950s

The Adobe Theater explores what a group of strangers can become when trapped in a rural Kansas diner in William Inge’s “Bus Stop.”

“I’ve always loved this story about being trapped inside a little cafe with strangers, there’s something about that,” Georgia Athearn, director, said. “I’m a traveler, so it’s like what would it be like to be stranded in a small setting with people you don’t know.”

“Bus Stop” is set during a snowstorm in the 1950s, and Athearn wanted to keep true to the time period and has a set that matches a ’50s diner.

“I wanted to bring that ’50s feel and look into the cafe, so it’s not throwback chrome how they have now,” Athearn said.

“This is actually where a bus would have stopped.”

She said she pulled from her experience and research when crafting the 1950s atmosphere for the show.

“I did my prestudy and all of this working, working within all of my history, and then you translate that with the actors, and you encourage them also to see what life was like in the ’50s,” Athearn said. “I was a small child, but most of my actors weren’t around during those days. So you have to take them back.”

Athearn has been in the Albuquerque community theater scene for 25 years and has seen a range of actors from masters of the craft to newbies, and she takes that into account when working with them, she said.

“As a director in Albuquerque, unless you’ve worked with a lot of these people before, you have to use your experience, your background and (bring) them up to the full potential that they can find for that character,” Athearn said.

Athearn said that “Bus Stop” was also a popular 1956 movie starring Marilyn Monroe, but that the film and stage play differ.

“The play is different in that the characters in the play are more full-bodied than the stars who were in the movie,” Athearn said.

The play has a range of characters, which is what drew Athearn to the play.

“(Inge) created three strong female characters who definitely hold their own through the play, which really excites me, because I love plays that have strong women,” Athearn said.

“They all three have their own way of stepping out of that mold that women in the ’50s had.”

She is drawn to plays that feature these archetypes and those that tell the story of America.

“As a director, I always look for strong female characters or strong American plays of good American playwrights,” Athearn said. “And William Inge, when you talk about the Midwest, he brings those plays to life.”

The Adobe Theater makes a 'Bus Stop' in the 1950s