In this beautifully cast and rendered production, director Dexter Bullard demonstrates his mastery of psychological realism…indeed, ultra-naturalism…a genre with which he is not usually identified. Author Tracy Letts, an actor who knows how to write for actors, has written a stylish, taut script (though not flawless), given an almost-painterly staging by Bullard within the shadowbox set of Robert G. Smith. Letts teases us with a tale of paranoia, government conspiracy and abusive relationships. Ultimately, though, Bug is a two-character relationship drama, not a plot play.
Bug takes place in a detailed, real-space motel room somewhere near Oklahoma City, made even more convincing by the Interstate highway noises designed by Joseph Fosco and the lighting of Andrew Meyers. In this room, almost hermetically sealed from the rest of the world, lives 40-ish Agnes White (symbolic name), a bar waitress whose harassing ex-husband has just been released from jail. A good heart who can’t get out of her own way…or anybody else’s…she’s typical of the white-trash characters with whom playwright Tracy Letts peopled his much-praised first play (Killer Joe) and this one (his second). Agnes, and most other characters in Bug, would be stereotypes if Letts himself didn’t hail from Oklahoma. Presumably, he writes about what he knows.
Fact is, Agnes and Peter Evans, the disturbed younger man who takes over her room and life, have the ring of truth about them, thanks in no small part to an extraordinary, lengthy expository scene between them early in Act I. Especially as portrayed by Kate Buddeke and Michael Shannon (how good to have this gifted young actor back in town), Agnes and Peter are an exceedingly vulnerable, sympathetic and caring couple, although their caring does not extend to others. Indeed, Peter’s growing physical violence…initially in the form of self-inflicted injuries…eventually boils over into the savage, nihilistic murder of an outsider (eye-popping fight by Chuck Coyl).
Despite the depth of the principal characters, Letts’ script is ragged in other respects. Snorting and smoking cocaine is very old and contributes nothing to the play. Characters are introduced who go nowhere and don’t impact the plot, such as Agnes’ gal pal R. C., and the threatening ex-husband, Jerry. Even Dr. Sweet, the hapless murder victim, shows up ONLY to be offed. His appearance has no point except as a device to take Peter over the top, which could have been achieved through the ex-husband alone (who disappears without a dramatic payoff). The strong veteran actors taking these roles…Robin Witt, Guy Van Swearingen and Troy West respectively…make them more than they are. Indeed, the drive of the acting, the stylish production and Letts’ darkly comic vision outweigh the flaws in Bug.