ABOUT THIS SHOW
In a seedy Oklahoma motel room, a lonely waitress begins an unexpected love affair with a young drifter. And then they see the first bugs… Tracy Letts’s mind-bending cult classic—a luridly funny tale of love, paranoia and government conspiracy—roars back to Chicago for its Steppenwolf debut.
BUG IS BACK IN 2021
Steppenwolf is thrilled to be remounting BUG with the original cast beginning November 11, 2021!
Shut down two weeks before closing in March 2020, this production’s return is the company’s bold refusal to let the disaster of COVID rewrite its story. These stunning performances—and this award-winning production—will once again reverberate throughout the building and welcome back audiences to the Steppenwolf they know and love: brave, brazen and defiant. Single tickets on sale now.
Watch & Listen
Content Advisory
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Stage Effects Advisory
If you want to learn more about the stage effects used in this show, please click below for specific effects alerts. If you have further questions, contact the box office at 312-335-1650.
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Cast & Artists
The Artists
- Author Tracy Letts
- Director David Cromer
- Scenic Designer Takeshi Kata
- Costume Designer Sarah Laux
- Lighting Desinger Heather Gilbert
- Sound Design Josh Schmidt
- Fight Choreographer Matt Hawkins
- Intimacy Choreographer Tonia Sina
- Dramaturg Sydney Charles
- Company Voice, Text & Dialect Coach Gigi Buffington
- Artistic Producer Hallie Gordon
- Director of Production Tom Pearl
- Casting Director JC Clementz
- Production Stage Manager Christine D. Freeburg
- Assistant Stage Manager Jaclynn Joslin
Featured Ensemble Members
The Cast
Reviews
★ ★ ★ ★
“Thrilling—the greatest Bug ever. The work of fearless artists at the peak of their international careers. Brilliantly cast play… Smallwood has worked all over Chicago theater but I’ve never seen him do work quite like this. Coon… is every bit as potent. Tracy Letts’ seminal, skin-crawling 1996 work… is not for the squeamish” – Chicago Tribune
★ ★ ★ ★
“Carrie Coon, Namir Smallwood triumph… It’s tough to overstate the depth and breadth and sheer emotional intensity that Coon and Smallwood bring to their roles. Tony-winning director David Cromer’s magnificent revival… part noir, part love story, part psychological thriller… Bug is a snapshot of anxiety taken to extremes” – Chicago Sun-Times
“… a love story by the flames of Peter's emergent paranoia, and Agnes's willingness to believe or smoke anything that makes her feel alive… Bug still gets under the skin” – Chicago Reader
“Positively skin crawling… Coon and Smallwood give remarkable and ferocious performances that take the already buzzing and dark energy inherent in Bug to a whole new level. Bug’s reflection on the power of paranoia, surveillance, and conspiracy theories plays out with a fiery urgency… a terrifying and prescient night at the theater that left me buzzing” – Broadway World
“Buckle up and brace yourself. The obscenely exciting play by Tracy Letts… ‘Bug' has a subtlety and sureness of composition that testifies to top-flight craftsmanship” – The New York Times
“Tracy Letts’s creeper is bound to make your skin crawl… is one of the most intense theatrical experiences you’re likely to have” – Time Out Chicago
Sponsors
Grand Production Sponsors
Julie and Roger Baskes
Amy and Cameron Findlay
John Hart and Carol Prins
Individual Production Sponsors
Jim and Kay Mabie
Christopher and Eileen Murphy
Elizabeth Schubert