From Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County) and Tony Award-winning director David Cromer (Prayer for the French Republic, The Band's Visit) comes the Broadway premiere of Steppenwolf’s acclaimed staging of a cult classic about an unexpected and intense romance between a lonely waitress (Carrie Coon) and a mysterious drifter (Namir Smallwood). What begins as a simple connection between two broken people in a seedy Oklahoma motel room twists into something far more dangerous. When reality slips out of grasp, paranoia, delusion, and conspiracy take over in this sexy psychological thriller. The New York Times warns, "Buckle up and brace yourself because Bug is obscenely exciting."
While lesser actors might veer into overwrought hysterics, Coon – with her piercing gaze and tousled mess of hair – creates a character that is fully lived-in and believable. Like the very best art, or a pesky insect, it's the kind of performance that burrows deep into your soul.
Seen on Broadway, with greater polish and physical distance, “Bug” lands differently. The problem isn’t that “Bug” no longer makes sense. It’s that this time, I never fully went with it. I understood what the play was doing. I respected the craft. I appreciated the performances. But I didn’t surrender to the descent. Where the play once swept me into its fever dream, I remained aware, analytical, outside the experience. The bugs never got under my skin.
| 2004 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2026 | Broadway |
Broadway |
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