When William Inge's play, Bus Stop, opened on Broadway March 2, 1955, it was an immediate commercial and critical success. Based on Inge's earlier one-act play, People in the Wind, Bus Stop involves a pair of young lovers and their struggle to find love in the modern world.

Unlike his earlier two plays, Come Back, Little Sheba and Picnic, this work is not an in-depth study of relationships. Instead, it is considered a superficial romantic comedy. As most critics assert, Bus Stop simply lacks the depth of Inge's earlier work.

Inge's focus on the main couple—the nightclub singer, Cherie, and the brash cowboy, Bo—inspired more controversy. As critics complained that the other six characters in the play remain undeveloped and fail to hold the audience's attention or sympathy, Inge reasserted his hope that the audience would be interested in every character. His aim was to portray the full spectrum of romantic relationships, from positive to negative, in his work.