Carrie Coon to Star in Tracy Letts’ Play ‘Bug’ on Broadway

Carrie Coon will star in the Broadway premiere of Bug this winter, written by her husband Tracy Letts.

The play, which will be directed by David Cromer (The Band’s Visit), follows a surprise and intense romance between a lonely waitress, played by Coon and a mysterious drifter, played by Namir Smallwood. The production begins performances on Dec. 17 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, with an opening night set for Jan. 8. 

The play transfers to Broadway from a Steppenwolf production that began in 2020 and resumed in late 2021, after being delayed by the pandemic. The show was staged in London 30 years ago, and has had several iterations since, including an Off-Broadway production in 2004 and a film adaptation in 2007, with Michael Shannon starring in both. 

In addition to Coon and Smallwood, the cast will include Randall Arney, Jennifer Engstrom and Steve Key, who also starred in the Steppenwolf production. 

The production describes the play saying, “What begins as a simple connection between two broken people in a seedy Oklahoma motel room twists into something far more dangerous. When reality slips out of grasp, paranoia, delusion, and conspiracy take over in this sexy psychological thriller.”

Coon comes to Broadway after starring in The White Lotus and The Gilded Age. She previously appeared on Broadway in a 2012 revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which also starred Letts, and received a Tony nomination for her role. 

In addition to appearing in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Letts has had several plays on Broadway, including the Pulitzer Prize-winner August: Osage County, Superior Donuts and The Minutes. 

“I love this production of Bug. It’s scary and funny and intimate, and it features five great stage actors working at the peak of their powers, under the direction of my long-time collaborator David Cromer,” Letts said. “But what I love most about it is just how involving it is. When an audience is pulled into a story—when they lose themselves in it—it’s a kind of sorcery. And it only happens in live theatre.”