Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – A pair of Off-Broadway revivals dissect human yearning: William Inge’s BUS STOP at CSC and Sarah Ruhl’s EURYDICE at Signature

• By drediman
• June 5, 2025
• No Comments

This past week, I was able to catch a pair of Off-Broadway revivals that seek to unpack and dissect the throbbing ache that is human yearning. As per usual, read on for my thoughts.

BUS STOP
Classic Stage Company / NAATCO / Transport Group
Through June 8

Before shuttering this coming weekend, I was able to catch one of the final performances of Classic Stage Company, NAATCO, and Transport Group’s co-production of William Inge’s Bus Stop (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). First performed 70 years ago in 1955, the classic three act play tells the story of a motley crew of bus passengers who take overnight refuge in a rural Kansas diner during a debilitating snowstorm. Over the course of their time together, a bittersweet medley of romance, drama, and comedy ensues. But perhaps making the most lasting impression is the play’s depiction of the basic human yearning for connection — complete with all its messy complexities and even contradictions. Although some of today’s audiences may balk at a number of the overtly inappropriate situations the characters find themselves, particularly the women (misogyny and underage encounters are both prominently featured in the play), Inge is an insightful enough writer to navigate through them with nuance and intelligence — as is director Jack Cummings III (Transport Group’s Artistic Director), whose slow-burning staging looks the play straight in the eye. To be sure, Bus Stop stands the test of time, and it’s clear throughout that the playwright has deep respect and compassion for his characters. It’s also a brilliant opportunity for an ensemble cast to sink their teeth into meaty characters and satisfying scenes, which unspool organically over Peiyi Wong’s immersive set design. The current Off-Broadway revival boasts some rather fine acting from an all-Asian cast (the production calls to mind NAATCO’s similarly excellent revival of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing! at the Public Theater about a decade ago), each of whom get a chance to take the driver’s seat (most eye-catching of the bunch are David Shih’s hilariously insolent cowboy, Midori Francis’s lovable chanteuse with a checkered past, and Rajeesh Bose’s cultured yet self-loathing wanderer). Most importantly, their scenes together as an ensemble sing and hum like a dream as they hit all the beats built into Inge’s text.

EURYDICE
Signature Theatre Company
Through June 27

Then uptown over at Pershing Square Signature Center, you’ll find Signature Theatre Company’s revival of Sarah Ruhl’s 2003 play Eurydice (RECOMMENDED), which has emerged as one of the defining works of the playwright’s canon (in 2021, the play was even adapted into a well-received opera at the Metropolitan Opera, featuring music by Matthew Aucoin and a libretto by Ruhl). Simply put, the work is a retelling of the ubiquitous Orpheus and Eurydice myth, but told from the perspective of Eurydice. One of the playwright’s key expansions is the inclusion of Eurydice’s father, whom the heroine seeks out in the underworld upon her death literally at the altar during her marriage to Orpheus. Suffice to say, this addition significantly shifts the whole balance of the well-trodden story. Throughout, Ruhl’s language is both timeless yet chock full of idiosyncrasies, which is as beguiling today as it was when I first encountered the piece more than two decades ago in Chicago. Like Inge’s Bus Stop, what stands out in Eurydice is the intense yearning experienced by its characters — Eurydice for her absent father on her wedding day, Orpheus for her twice deceased wife, etc. (the scenes involving “Hail Mary” communications between the worlds of the living and the dead are as poetic as they are heartbreaking). Despite its playful design — particularly Scott Bradley’s sets and Oana Botez’s costumes — Les Waters’ patient production is clear-eyed and pmoves with intent, all the while respecting the play’s inherent absurdism. He’s also elicited some thoughtful performances from his very good cast. In the title role, Maya Hawke draws you in with her deeply intelligent portrayal of an independent woman. As her father, Brian d’Arcy James is perfectly cast, effortlessly slipping into “dad” mode (he looks the part to a tee, as well). Rounding out the principal cast are Caleb Eberhardt as a soulful Orpheus, as well as T. Ryder Smith, who is unsettlingly menacing as both A Nasty Interesting Man and the Lord of the Underworld.