Bug at Steppenwolf
Bug at Steppenwolf
#1Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 9:48am
If you are in Chicago or plan to visit next month you must check out David Cromer's production of Tracy Letts' Bug at Steppenwolf Theater. I saw it saturday night and it was unbelievable. It's amazing to think he wrote this after the oklahoma city bombing, and it's probably even more relevant now as conspiracy theories and fact are now almost completely blurred. Carrie Coon is giving what may be her best performance to date as Agnes (her monolouge in the second act is enthralling) and regional actor Namir Smallwood is sad and frighting as Peter. I would not be surprised if this production has a transfer in the future.
#2Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 10:39am
My friends and I are going on Feb. 19th. They are not regular theatre goers, but were really excited about seeing this.
This is a Chicago Theatre Week production, if you want a discount.
#3Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 10:43am
I was there Saturday night also, but I was volunteer ushering one of their other shows.
The lobby was literally swarming (no pun intended) with patrons - largely on account of Bug.
One of the house managers told me that there were a lot of standby ticket holders for that performance.
Chris Jones in the Tribune mentioned awhile ago that it would be a hot ticket.
#4Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 1:39pmHoping to see this on University Night, February 7th!
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
#5Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 2:46pm
I'm set to go this Friday - very excited for it. I'm a huge Carrie Coon fan (and, naturally, a Letts fan), so I'm thrilled to hear such positive feedback.
LightsOut90
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/14
3GamesToLove
Chorus Member Joined: 3/6/17
LarryD2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/14
#8Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 3:44pm
I built a weekend trip to Chicago specifically around catching this production.
#9Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 1/27/20 at 10:46pm
LarryD2 said: "I built a weekend trip to Chicago specifically around catching this production."
Same. Also looking forward to Graveyard Shift and Voice of Good Hope.
#11Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 2/2/20 at 11:05pm
I saw this two nights ago, and it's as good as everyone is saying it is. Namir Smallwood and Carrie Coon give such genuine, discomfiting performances. I've always thought of this play as a demented love story, and they play that angle with really profound subtlety. The set design is excellent, and the transitions are all handled really elegantly, in a way that doesn't at all remove you from the atmosphere of the show. At this point, I've seen every show Letts has written and while this will never be my favorite work of his, this production really takes the material to its highest possible level. Cromer killed it.
Also: I'm not normally the sort to notice something like this, but the lighting in the second act in particular is the best lighting I've ever seen in any professional show, ever.
My only complaint is that my sightline on the left side wasn't perfect. I saw most everything, but there's a dresser at the front of the stage that would occasionally block a subtle movement or something like that. Luckily, there was a mirror that ameliorated that problem to an extent (a really great design choice), but if you're considering going, I'd suggest you try and buy tickets in the middle section for the best possible sightline.
#12Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 2/3/20 at 11:32am
Just popping in to add another rave review. I intentionally went into the play as blind as possible in terms of plot and was blown away. It's not my favorite Letts work, but all five actors were just sensational. Smallwood and Coon let you understand just how each character ends up in this particular situation.
I agree with CoercedBull - I was also sitting on the house left and the dresser blocked the bed on set at times (we must have been sitting right by each other on Friday!)
It's a great night and such an intense show.
#13Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 2/11/20 at 11:00pmFinally got to seeing it tonight and enjoyed it so much. Cromer, Carrie, and Namir deserve all the praises. Hope this is eyeing a transfer.
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
#14Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 2/11/20 at 11:06pmI really hope this comes to New York. I LOVE the movie but have never seen a production.
#15Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 2/12/20 at 8:19amI found it interesting, but talk about gratuitous nudity...
#16Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 2/13/20 at 7:11am
I will be seeing this in March. Very excited. Making a special trip back to Chicago. Cromer is one of my favorite directors and I will go to his productions whenever I’m able. Carrie Coon is an extra special bonus.
#17Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 11/21/21 at 12:59am
Tonight I made a return trip to Bug after having seen it February 2020. The production is still top notch and ever so more striking now in the world of Q and other crazy medical conspiracies. Cast was great still, although Carrie Coon was absent tonight’s performance, Maura Kidwell was just as exceptional as Agnes. I’m also very excited about Steppenwolfs expansion and can’t wait to see a show in their in-the-round theatre.
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
#18Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 11/22/21 at 3:02pm
According to Twitter, Carrie had a fever on Saturday and thus couldn't perform due to Covid protocols. She missed both shows on Saturday, but after testing was back in on Sunday.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
JasonC3
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/21
#19Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 11/22/21 at 3:15pm
Lots of performances were up on Goldstar for about half-price.
EDIT:
Just checked and it looks like the Goldstar tix are now sold out.
Alex Kulak2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/16
#20Bug at Steppenwolf
Posted: 11/24/21 at 10:15am
Saw it last night and absolutely loved it. Carrie Coon was back on, and she's excellent as always, but my favorite performance of the night was Namir Smallwood. The way he plays this character isn't so much deranged (as others play him) as he is haunted. He's so unassuming and nonthreatening that it's so much more terrifying when he leads Carrie Coon down the rabbit hole.
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I love Michael Shannon, but the way he plays Peter, you don't trust him from the start. The way Namir Smallwood plays him, you want to trust him even when he's dousing himself and Agnes in gasoline.
This is also the first time I've ever applauded a set change. I knew that the set changed radically between two scenes, and I had no idea how they would accomplish it, but now I can't imagine any other way they would have.
