{"id":2228965,"date":"2026-01-09T22:38:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2228965"},"modified":"2026-01-09T22:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:38:52","slug":"bug-review-carrie-coon-is-terrifying-in-tense-conspiracy-theory-play-on-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/bug-review-carrie-coon-is-terrifying-in-tense-conspiracy-theory-play-on-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Bug&#8217; review: Carrie Coon is terrifying in tense conspiracy-theory play on Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F01%2F118581488.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTheater review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tBUG\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 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stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--half\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>One hour and 55 minutes, with one intermission. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th Street.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Typically in a theater, crickets mean calmness. Here\u2019s our cue to settle in for a meaningful summer\u2019s night chat on a porch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or, when the word is used in a review of a play, it\u2019s shorthand for<em> boooooring<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But over at \u201cBug\u201d at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, the insect\u2019s song has a more sinister motive. In the hair-raising revival of Tracy Letts\u2019 freaky and potent 1996 drama that opened Thursday night on Broadway, the rhythmic chirping as the lights go down is a signal to \u201crun for your life!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No, not the audience. They\u2019re too glued to dash.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s poor Agnes, a lost soul played by the mesmeric Carrie Coon, who should heed Jiminy\u2019s warning. Yet, alone and loveless<sub>,<\/sub> she chooses to ignore red flags over and over again.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood star in \u201cBug\u201d on Broadway. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The first blinking sign comes when RC (Jennifer Engstrom), a waitress at the Oklahoma restaurant where Agnes works, brings over a customer named Peter to Agnes\u2019 home \u2014 a grungy motel room. He\u2019s intense, bloodshot and bizarre, but that could be a result of the crack pipe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nobody would call Peter a charmer. Edgily inhabited by Namir Smallwood, he\u2019s a human game of Jenga. One wrong move, and\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The awkward and jittery guest doesn\u2019t have a place to stay, so, appreciating the company of a man, Agnes invites him to sleep over. Then, in the middle of the night, Peter hears a cricket noise.<\/p>\n<p>Down he goes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A little insect chirp upends Peter and Agnes\u2019 lives. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s almost the set-up to a comedy. In fact, there is a Season 6 episode of \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm\u201d that\u2019s remarkably similar to Peter and Agnes frantically hunting for the source of the sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, while there\u2019s gallows humor in Letts\u2019 pre- \u201cAugust: Osage County\u201d psychological play, the David Cromer-directed production comes as close to a horror movie as anything that\u2019s been on Broadway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If \u201cStranger Things: The First Shadow\u201d offers brainless theme-park jump-scares, \u201cBug\u201d\u2019s bold imagery, especially as the story hurdles toward its end, provokes raw terror.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It sure did for the woman sitting in front of me, who animatedly shielded her eyes multiple times as though she accidentally strolled into \u201cHouse of 1,000 Corpses\u201d instead of \u201cHouse of Gucci.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cBug\u201d comes as close to a horror movie as anything you\u2019ve ever seen on Broadway. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Before you reach for the Raid, know that this is not a cousin of Hitchcock\u2019s \u201cThe Birds\u201d or the bee-crazy \u201cCandyman.\u201d \u201cBug\u201d is not really about a creepy-crawly infestation. Rather, it harrowingly shows the frightening lengths that lonely and hurt people will go to fill a painful void.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even if that means totally rewriting reality.<\/p>\n<p>As they turn into paranoid shut-ins who insist the world is out to get them, Coon\u2019s waitress goes from a vulnerable shift worker to something resembling the subject of an exorcism. Smallwood\u2019s secretive nomad, meanwhile, amps up his crazed conspiracy theories to the volume of \u201cthe power of Christ compels you!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because of Letts\u2019 empathetic writing and Coon\u2019s broken, can\u2019t-take-it-anymore performance, we understand their extremism and why they believe the outlandish things they believe \u2014 even if Peter is the harder nut to crack.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She\u2019s dealing with a trauma that will never heal, while her ex Jerry (Randall Arney) drops in to abuse her and steal what little money she has. Peter is on the run from something, and a ghost of his past, played as a professional serpent by Steve Key, is pursuing him.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, in each other, they have found someone who listens without judgment and shares in and fuels their delusions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Letts\u2019 play has gotten harder-hitting with age. Having written \u201cBug\u201d right as internet chatrooms were taking off, he prophesied how solitary people seeking connection would one day find it \u2014 in dangerous radicalism via the dark recesses of the web. Today, we hear about Peters and Agneses all the time, usually on the news after a horrific event.<\/p>\n<p>While the duo\u2019s descent into derangement narrowly avoids the heart, it is alarming, sad and riveting to watch.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Carrie Coon has gained popularity for \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d but she is a magnificent stage actress. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many newcomers have joined Camp Coon since they saw her on \u201cThe White Lotus,\u201d but she\u2019s been an exemplary stage actress for years. She last appeared on Broadway as the perfect Honey in 2011\u2019s \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Coon has also given thunderous performances for years at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. She is, for my money, the best torch bearer of the so-called Chicago style of fearless, no-holds-barred acting of her generation.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve only experienced Coon on TV, \u201cBug\u201d is an itch you need to scratch.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theater review BUG One hour and 55 minutes, with one intermission. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th Street. Typically in a theater, crickets mean calmness. Here\u2019s our cue to settle in for a meaningful summer\u2019s night chat on a porch.\u00a0 Or, when the word is used in a review of a play, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2228966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[344468,316948,21741,350667,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2228965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-broadway","tag-carrie-coon","tag-entertainment","tag-plays","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Bug-review-Carrie-Coon-is-terrifying-in-tense-conspiracy-theory-play.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2228967,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228965\/revisions\/2228967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2228966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}