Don’t Miss the Bus
When you’re riding to work every day on a TransIT bus you can’t help but get drawn in to the lives of the drivers and other passengers—exactly what happened when I decided to make my commute to The Frederick News-Post aboard a bus. I faithfully rode every day for about five years and during that time wrote a blog for the paper called “Another One Rides the Bus.” (A reprise of that blog has appeared in The Frederick Extra.)
But why limit yourself to a blog when the bus offers up inspiration to write a play? Bus Buddies was a few years in the making and after countless rewrites The Maryland Ensemble Theatre graciously offered to do a public table reading several years ago. Since then, I trotted the script around and had no takers so I decided to produce it on my own. The characters I had created were bugging me to put them on a stage and I needed to oblige.
Rachel Smith came on the scene as director. She is serious about theater, serving as stage manager at the MET and also doing work in Winchester, Va. She knows when we can cut a line or even a character and is willing to put hours into this production with no pay.
Actually, no one is getting paid. The actors are generously giving of their time to put on a show. All ticket sales will go the Literacy Council of Frederick County and to youth programs at the Housing Authority of the City of Frederick.
Not only that, but the folks at the Bernard Brown Community Center, 629 N. Market St., where the play is being staged, are giving us the space for free. A shout-out also goes to Evangelical Lutheran Church which graciously gave us space for four nights of practice over six weeks.
A little bit about the play: It’s a comedy with a man named Vernon serving as the ringmaster in the circus that is public transportation. The veteran driver makes it his mission to make sure his pilgrims tread the straight and narrow. His main project is Eddie, a hot-shot reporter who had his wings clipped when he lost his license because of a DUI. He’s now riding the bus and writing obituaries, but still digging into a story about the shady mayor wanting to privatize the buses.
The bus also includes Latino fast-food worker, Juan, who encourages people to think he’s a step away from the immigration people. There’s also Naomi and Lucille who run the bus’s weekly “Fat Club” meetings, and Mrs. Timmons, whose late husband, Henry, led quite the life—at least according to her string of stories. Rita is another driver who has something to say, mainly about her free-loading boyfriend and how drab her life is.
The play is at 7 p.m. on April 21 and 22, and 3 p.m. on April 23. Tickets, sold only in advance, can be purchased here.
