If one is the loneliest number, perhaps William Inge could be called a singular playwright for his ability to convey the depths of human longing for connection.

This week, Butler Community College is staging one of the Kansas writer’s best-known shows, “Bus Stop,” directed by Bob Peterson.

“[I wanted to] work with material – or a voice – that I knew very well, because his voice is definitely a Kansas voice, just in terms of his dialogue and the meter and the cadence that his characters speak in,” Peterson said. “We all know these people.”

Labeled a romantic comedy by critics, Inge dismissed that notion, but conceded that “Bus Stop” is “as funny as life gets for him,” Peterson said.

When a bus trip is cut short near Kansas City due to a snowstorm, a handful of strangers are stranded at the nearest bus stop, a local diner, until the weather lets up.

“I think there’s nothing more lonely or more desperate than being in a storm and being alone,” Peterson said.

A young, hot-headed cowboy meets a nightclub singer and vows to make her his bride, despite her protests. Meanwhile, a self-loathing, over-educated sot has his eyes on a young waitress, oblivious as she may be.

The story comes from Inge’s observations while taking a bus ride of his own, originally designed as a one-act play called “People in the Wind,” which eventually developed into “Bus Stop,” which spawned the 1956 Marilyn Monroe film of the same name.

“For me as a director, it’s all about people trying to escape from being lonely,” Peterson said. “That’s something that Bill Inge knew very well. He was a very lonely man.”

Despite his successes, Inge – for whom the annual theatre festival in Independence is named – killed himself in 1973 after a string of flops.

In staging this show, Peterson said it’s been interesting watching his cast grow into these roles.

“Loneliness, of course, is universal,” Peterson said. “The actor and the actress just understand that sometimes, they’ve been alone and they get that, so it’s just a transference thing. To watch them find themselves in these characters that originally six weeks ago they thought were foreigners, that’s probably been the most fun for me to watch.

“The nice thing about this show is all of these kids, this age group, they understand the language because it’s Kansas idioms, Kansas cadence.”

“Bus Stop” – which is played in three acts with a pair of intermissions – opens at 8 p.m. Thursday at and plays Friday and Saturday at the same time. On Saturday, there will be a 3 p.m. matinee. For tickets or more information, call 322-3262.