THEATER REVIEW:Dramatic view of the heartland

The first thing you notice about “Bus Stop” at the Newport Theater Arts Center is the bus stop itself. Before any actor arrives on stage, you’re thrust into this mid-1950s setting — a well-worn and meticulously detailed way station in a small Kansas town.

William Inge territory, the American heartland. And set designer Bill Cole knows it well. So, for that matter do director Phyllis Gitlin’s coterie of actors, a depth-laden group bringing this well-traveled play to fresh, pulsating life.

Inge employed Middle America as a dramatic canvas for his literary artwork, in such exercises as “Picnic,” “Come Back, Little Sheba,” “A Loss of Roses” and “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.” His “Bus Stop” most resembles “Picnic” — a romantic drama focusing on two lovers, yet broadening its scope to offer indelible portraits of the surrounding figures.

In the Newport production, there is plenty of spotlight to go around, especially when the leading characters are painted so purposefully callow and deficient in depth. The supporting players gobble up the scenery ravenously, as well they should.

Both Emily Brideau as the “chantoosey,” rendered on the screen so beautifully by Marilyn Monroe, and Paul Breazeale as the hot-blooded cowboy set on roping her and taking her back to Montana project youth and naivete beneath their brash or showy exteriors. Neither has an overabundance of worldly experience, and both actors register this factor convincingly, Breazeale with frustrated gusto, Brideau in more quiet confession.

Inge created some richly defined fellow travelers to furnish depth and dimension, the most memorable being Dr. Lyman, the defrocked college professor with a lech for young ladies and a weakness for bottled spirits. Peter Stone sinks his teeth deeply into this intellectual titan whose disdain for most of humanity is fervently articulated.

Grace, the “grass widow” owner of the diner who entertains the bus driver upstairs while all the drama is going on, is gleefully played by Susan E. Taylor. Alan Slabodkin is equally effective as the driver, Carl, who takes full advantage of the weather-necessitated overnight stopover.

As the scholastically advanced but socially backward young waitress, Susan Bartolme oozes all the optimism long drained from Stone’s character, and these two mount a stirring “Romeo and Juliet” balcony scene from memory until Demon Rum intervenes.

Two roles normally viewed as background support surge front and center in the Newport production.

Rob Kerr is a dominating force as the town sheriff, and Bob Fetes delivers a splendid account of Breazeale’s older buddy, aching in his loneliness.

Cole’s setting is one of the finest glimpsed on a local stage this year, and he also shares scenic artist credit with Andrew Otero while adding superb set dressing to the atmospheric attraction. Mitch Atkins’ lighting effects, Ron Wyand’s sound design and Dave Temple’s costumes further enhance the production.

It’s been more than a half a century since audiences first checked into Inge’s “Bus Stop,” but it’s still a fascinating place to visit, particularly in such a fully realized production as that offered by the Newport Theater Arts Center.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Bus Stop”

WHERE: Newport Theater Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays until April 20

COST: $15

CALL: (949) 631-0288