Square One Theatre Presents WHITE GUY ON THE BUS

The Square One Theatre Company in Stratford, Connecticut continues its 28th Anniversary Season with the Connecticut Premiere of Bruce Graham's White Guy on the Bus, which The News Journal calls not only "a social commentary and morality tale, but also a well-crafted straight-out mystery."

White Guy on the Bus opens Thursday, March 1 continues Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 18, 2018. Square One Theatre is partnering with Stratford CARE (Citizens Addressing Racial Equity) whose members will facilitate post-performance talkbacks with the actors and members of the audience following the 4pm twilight matinees on Saturdays, March 3-10 & 17.

White Guy on the Bus (WGOTB) is a first-rate, new play that has more than a stunning surprise or two. Stratford's Tom Holehan directs this fearless new play by Bruce Graham, writer of The Outgoing Tide, the critically and popularly acclaimed play which Square One Theatre produced two seasons ago. WGOTB unravels a complex web of moral ambiguity, revenge, and racial bias taking the characters and the audience on an emotional roller coaster ride. According to the Chicago Tribune it's "a play with guts and it goes for the jugular" while The Philadelphia Inquirer said it "will knock you off your pins."

Playwright Graham has found a delicious way of penning realistic-sounding talk that may seem, at first, to meander, but actually articulates important themes and ideas entertainingly and without preachiness. The title obviously concerns race, but there is so much more...instead of an issue-driven debate; it's a powerful story about characters struggling with titanic decisions and negotiating desperately to save themselves.

On a city bus, Shatique, a struggling African-American nurse and single mom, meets Ray, a 50-something white man who makes a point of always sitting next to her and inquiring about her family and her hopes for the future. After learning that he has a Mercedes, she wonders (just as the audience does) why he even rides "this damn bus" so often. The answer is part of what makes Graham's complex and even brilliant play so very intriguing. Things take an unexpected sinister turn when he shows up on her tenement doorstep with a dangerous proposal. When key plot points (one has to see it to believe it) are revealed, every cynical retort, frustration-fueled rant and defensive comeback relates to the story's twists and turns.

The cast of White Guy on the Bus includes Stratford's Erma Elliott and Bruce Murray, New Canaan's Janet Rathert plus the husband and wife team of Emily and Ian Diedrich of Middlebury, Connecticut.

Performances for each production begin the first Thursday (only) at 7pm and continue Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 4pm and 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

Square One Theatre is in residence at Stratford Academy located at 719 Birdseye Street in Stratford, Connecticut. Those new to Square One Theatre should set the GPS for 719 Birdseye Street in Stratford, Connecticut, located off I-95 at either Exit 31 or 32 (northbound and southbound). There is ample FREE parking.

Stratford Academy's stage has been re-configured by Square One into an intimate 64-seat black box-type theatre. The audience is seated in new padded chairs on the stage along with the actors, insuring that all patrons have a good seat to hear and see. With this redesigned, modern venue no audience member is more than 15 feet from the stage.

Tickets are: $20 for each adult single ticket $19 for each senior citizen & student single ticket
Single tickets may be purchased:
By phone: Box Office at 203.375.8778(24/7)
Online at: squareonetheatre.com
In person: at box office 60 minutes prior to each performance
By mail: self-addressed, stamped envelope & check payable to Square One Theatre sent to Administrative Office; 656 Longbrook Avenue, Stratford, Ct 06614-5117

The Stratford Academy is wheelchair accessible. Please inform the box office of any special needs when reserving tickets. The Square One Theatre's 28th season also includes James Lescene's The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelky, which "leaves you beaming with joy" (The New York Times) running May 3 through May 20, 2018. For more information and up-to-date news about the theatre, the plays and the actors visit squareonetheatre.com All play titles and dates are subject to change.

To post a comment, you must register and login.