Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood in 'Bug' on Broadway. Matthew Murphy Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment In Bug on Broadway, Carrie Coon plays a small town waitress caught up in a web of paranoid delusions and conspiracy theories. Her character, Agnes, is introduced to these ideas after connecting with Peter, a Gulf War veteran who fixates on a bug problem in her hotel room as part of a larger theory about surveillance. It's edgy and stands out in the Broadway season, which Coon argues is exactly what's needed in this political climate. "It feels subversive to be an artist right now, because there's a real war on the arts in this country. So bringing something that's a little edgier and a little darker feels like the way theater should go, and usually goes when people feel oppressed," Coon said. Related Stories TV Bret Hanna-Shuford, Broadway Actor and Social Media Influencer, Dies at 46 Business Broadway Box Office: 'Stranger Things,' 'Harry Potter' Break Records During Holiday Week Bug, written by Tracy Letts, Coon's husband, makes its Broadway debut at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre after premiering in London in 1996 and then seeing several subsequent iterations, as well as a film adaptation. This production, directed by David Cromer and co-starring Namir Smallwood, also ran twice at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago (with the first run curtailed by the pandemic) before moving to Broadway. It's set to open Jan. 8 for a limited run through Feb. 8. Even after the previous runs, Coon, known for her roles as Bertha Russell in The Gilded Age and Laurie Duffy in The White Lotus, still calls this project the "hardest play" she's worked on because of the rapid emotional acceleration it requires. Coon says she continues to look for new and edgy roles in theater as her TV and film profile continues to rise. She spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the resonance of the play, being internet famous and what will become of the thousands of DVDs Letts continues to acquire for their at-home collection. How does it feel revisiting this play four years after the Steppenwolf run? What really changes is the audience and the way the audience is listening, because the world has changed since we did it, and the language is quite startling. Different things pop out depending on when you're doing the show. And of course, when we did it four years ago, we had the rise of the pandemic, the audiences started to get quieter as people were freaking out. And then we came back after the pandemic subsided and the theater was reopening, and that was kind of the rise of conspiracy thinking like QAnon was really taking root at that time, so people were responding to that. And now I feel like this question of the machines and how we'll never really be safe again is really landing with the audience. What was your process like to get into the character of Agnes? I am often charged with playing really cerebral, very verbal women, intellectual women. But on many levels, Agnes White is actually closer to me than a lot of other characters I play. I grew up in a very working class family, middle class more or less, in a working class area of Ohio. These questions of addiction, working these kinds of low-level jobs, drug use, alcoholism, loneliness, these are not themes that are far from me. So these are my people more than like, Bertha [from The Gilded Age] is my people. And so in some ways, it's actually closer than most of the other storytelling I've done in my career. It's also interesting to have this edgy play coming to a nonprofit theater around Christmas, and incorporated into the Broadway season. Because of the economics of theater, I think producers are forced or inclined to make safe choices, and so I have to respect [Manhattan Theatre Club] for bringing this level of irreverence to their Christmas season. And, for me, I'm always looking for edginess and theatricality in my theater, and I do feel, compared to a place like Europe, which is a real director's theater, they really take some big swings out there. We see versions of Tracy's plays unrecognizable to what's on the page because of the wildness that they're able to bring because it's state-supported theater, and everyone has a salary, they have health insurance. There are other things they don't have to worry about. It feels subversive to be an artist right now, because there's a real war on the arts in this country. So bringing something that's a little edgier and a little darker feels like the way theater should go, and usually goes when people feel oppressed. Are you able to find more edgy parts in theater than on screen? TV and film, it has edginess as well, and I've gotten invited to do some interesting stuff there, certainly, but I get to express more range