''Bug'' is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Tracy Letts Tracy S. Letts (born July 4, 1965) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for '' August: Osage County'' (2007), for which he received ...

. Exploring themes of

paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...

and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

, the play tells the story of a woman who, as she spends time with a newly acquainted man in her

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...

room, starts sharing more and more of his paranoias. It premiered in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

1996, and was also performed around the United States between 2000 and 2004. The play was adapted into a film of the same name directed by

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in t ...

in 2006, with Letts writing the screenplay and

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

, who had played the male lead role of Peter in the original London production and in some American versions, reprising his role.

Synopsis

Most of the play takes place in a seedy

room. Lonely cocktail waitress Agnes lives there, hiding from her violent ex-husband Jerry Goss, an ex-con. One night, her

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

biker friend R.C. introduces her to Peter, a

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

veteran who might be

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

. She gets involved with Peter, who grows increasingly paranoid about the war in Iraq,

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

s, the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-government extremists, Timothy McVeigh and Terry N ...

of the federal building, cult suicides, and secret government experiments on soldiers. He eventually draws Agnes into his delusions. The play explores issues of love, paranoia,

, and Agnes's slow descent into

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

under Peter's influence.

Production history

London premiere

The play originally premiered at the ''

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...

'' in Notting Hill, London, England on September 20, 1996. The rehearsals were at

A Red Orchid Theatre A Red Orchid Theatre is an Equity theatre company located in the Old Town district of Chicago, founded in 1993 by Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen IV, and Lawrence Grimm. Kirsten Fitzgerald, a long-time ensemble member, has helmed the company ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

.PerformInk.com: "Bug, Killer Joe's Dysfunctional Relation, Makes its Midwest Debut at A Red Orchid", by Lucia Mauro
* Shannon Cochran - Agnes White *

- Peter Evans

American premieres

Following its London run, the play made its U.S. debut at

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

, followed by the

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located at 641 D Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, it produces new plays which it believes to be edgy, challenging, and thought-provokin ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In Washington, DC, the play underwent a series of revisions and received an American premiere at

in March/April 2000. *Opening Date: March 18, 2000 *Closing Date: April 16, 2000 *Director: Wilson Milam *Deborah Hazlett - Agnes *Eric Sutton - Peter *Steve Schmidt- Jerry *Kate Eastwood Norris - R.C. *Brian Hemmingsen - Dr. Sweet The play's Chicago Premiere was at

, where the play first rehearsed prior to its world premiere in London. *Opening Date: August 20, 2001 *Closing Date: October 28, 2001 *Director: Dexter Bullard * Kate Buddeke - Agnes *

- Peter *Guy Van Swearingen III - Jerry *

Robin Witt Robin Witt is an American theater director. She is an ensemble member at both the Griffin Theatre and Steep Theatre Company in Chicago. Witt's notable productions include Enda Walsh's ''The New Electric Ballroom'' at A Red Orchid Theatre, Dennis K ...

- R.C. *Troy West - Dr. Sweet

Off-Broadway

Barrow Street Theatre Barrow Street Theatre is the name of both a 199-seat Off-Broadway theatre located in New York City's historic Greenwich House at 27 Barrow Street and a production company of the same name. From 2003 to 2018, the venue was leased to Barrow Street ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York *Opening Date: February 29, 2004 *Closing Date: January 30, 2005 *Director: Dexter Bullard * Shannon Cochran - Agnes *

- Peter *Michael Cullen - Jerry * Amy Landecker - R.C. *

Reed Birney Reed Birney (born September 11, 1954) is an American actor. Birney is known for his performances on stage and screen often acting on and off Broadway. Birney gained acclaim in 2016 for his role in '' The Humans'' winning the Tony Award for Best F ...

- Dr. Sweet

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her roles in such films as '' Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), ''The Fisher King'' (1991), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hunge ...

resigned from the Off-Broadway premiere 24 hours before its February 21 start date. A notice in the theater box office warned that the show contained nudity, violence and cigarette smoking.

Australia

The play premiered at The SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross, Sydney, in May 2010, as part of

Griffin Theatre Company Griffin Theatre Company is an Australian theatre specialising in new works, based in Sydney. Founded in 1979, it is the resident theatre company at the SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross. the artistic director is Declan Green. Artistic direct ...

'
Independent Season 2010
in conjunction with Picture This Productions. *Opening Date: 12 May 2010 *Closing Date: 5 June 2010 *Director: Anthony Skuse
Jeanette Cronin
- Agnes * Matthew Walker - Peter *

Jonny Pasvolsky Jonathan Marc Pasvolsky (born 26 July 1972), also known as Jonny Pasvolsky, is a South African-born Australian actor. Early life and education Pasvolsky was born on July 26, 1972, in Cape Town, South Africa, to a Jewish family. He was raised ...

- Jerry * Catherine Terracini - R.C.
Laurence Coy
- Dr. Sweet

Film adaptation

A film version of the play was released in 2006 from

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

. It was directed by

, and starred

Ashley Judd Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...

Harry Connick, Jr Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the Uni ...

and

. Friedkin contacted Tracy Letts after having seen the play, and they cooperated on a screen adaptation. Friedkin described the film as "the most intense piece of work I've ever done". Michael Shannon had played the part on stage. Lionsgate wanted to cast an actor with more name recognition, but Friedkin was determined to have Shannon perform in the film, saying he brought a unique quality to the part.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{OBIE Plays 1996 plays Plays by Tracy Letts Obie Award-winning plays American plays adapted into films