Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Tracy Letts’ absurdist drama “Bug” will move to Broadway this winter, replete with its original cast of Carrie Coon, Namir Smallwood, Randall Arney, Jennifer Engstrom and Steve Key.
Coon, who is married to Letts, is a Chicago actress enjoying a red-hot career moment with roles in two hit HBO TV shows, “The Gilded Age” and “White Lotus.”“Bug,” penned in 1996 and produced at Steppenwolf in 2020, will be produced by the nonprofit Manhattan Theatre Club and will not be billed as a Steppenwolf production, as was the case last season with “Purpose” when that play moved from Steppenwolf to New York. MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow did reference the production originating in Chicago in an announcement of the production Wednesday morning.
As in Chicago, “Bug” will be directed on Broadway by the longtime Chicago director David Cromer, who is also working with Letts on a James Taylor jukebox musical in development. Depending on how you read the play, “Bug” is either about the force of debilitating, delusional paranoia or the government’s ongoing tendency to experiment on its own citizens. Or both.
Opening night for “Bug” on Broadway is slated for Jan. 8, 2026, with previews beginning Dec. 16.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
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