Everything you need to know about 'Bug' on Broadway starring Carrie Coon

On the run from her ex-husband, Agnes White (Carrie Coon), an emotionally vulnerable waitress, meets Peter Evans (Namir Smallwood), a Gulf War veteran. Sparks fly between them in a shabby Oklahoma motel, where they start to see a bug infestation that opens the gateway for her to fall prey to his paranoia and unhinged delusions.

Beginning December 17, 2025, Bug plays at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre at 261 W. 47th St., between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.

The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, originally the Biltmore Theatre, was designed by Herbert J. Krapp. After being damaged by an arsonist, it was renovated and renamed by the nonprofit institution Manhattan Theatre Club, which owns and operates the venue for its Broadway shows.

Recent productions at the theatre include Punch, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Eureka Day, and Mary Jane.

Bug runs 90 minutes without an intermission. This is a typical Broadway play length, though shows typically run anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours. Longer shows generally have 15- or 20-minute intermissions.

Bug has yet to set an age recommendation, but the play is not recommended for young children. The play contains scenes of violence, strong language, drug use, sexual content, and disturbing themes of paranoia and mental illness that can be frightening.

Bug plays Tuesday through Sunday, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays and no performances on Mondays. This is a typical Broadway performance schedule, and it is subject to one-off changes, particularly around the holidays.

Tracy Letts's play Bug premiered in 1996, but the 2025 production marks its first time on Broadway.

• World premiere: Bug made its world premiere in September 1996 at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill, London. The production starred Shannon Cochran and Michael Shannon.
• NYC premiere: In 2004, a revised version of the play debuted off Broadway, with Cochran and Shannon reprising their roles. A film version was released in 2006, also starring Shannon.
• Broadway premiere: Bug makes its Broadway debut on December 17, 2025, in a transfer of a 2020 production presented at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

Tracy Letts wrote Bug. An Oklahoma-born writer and actor known for his sharp, emotionally intense works, Letts gained widespread recognition for his 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning play August: Osage County, which also earned a Tony Award for Best Play and received an Oscar-nominated film adaptation in 2013.

Letts’s other notable plays include Killer Joe, Superior Donuts, and The Minutes. Letts is also a performer, having acted in films like Lady Bird and The Post, and on TV in Homeland. He won a Best Actor Tony in 2013 for his performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Bug revolves around a waitress and a troubled veteran, along with other supporting characters. The cast arrives on Broadway intact from the play’s premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

• Agnes White: A lonely cocktail waitress hiding from an abusive ex who’s drawn into a stranger’s conspiracy theories. She is played on Broadway by Carrie Coon, who was nominated for an Emmy for The White Lotus and a Tony for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Peter Evans: A mysterious drifter and Gulf War veteran who claims to be the victim of government experiments. He is played by Namir Smallwood, who was seen on Broadway in Pass Over.
• R.C.: Agnes’s friend who introduces her to Peter and later regrets it. She is played by Jennifer Engstrom in her Broadway debut.
• Dr. Sweet: A military medical consultant who appears to know about Peter’s condition. He is played by Randall Arney, who’s been a Steppenwolf Theatre Company member since 1984.
• Jerry Goss: Agnes’s menacing ex-husband. He is played by Steve Key, whose Broadway credits include Sweat.

Bug has had multiple high-profile productions in the U.S. and U.K. since its 1996 world premiere.

• 1996 world premiere: Bug debuted in September 1996 at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill, London, which is known for mounting bold productions.
• 2000 U.S. premiere: In March, the play appeared in Washington, D.C. at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
• 2004 Off-Broadway premiere: Shannon Cochran and Michael Shannon starred in the first NYC production of Bug at the Barrow Street Theatre, reprising their roles from London.
• 2020 pre-Broadway revival: Carrie Coon led Bug in 2020 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.
• 2025 Broadway premiere: On December 17, 2025, Bug debuts on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre with all five Chicago cast members.

Yes, Tracy Letts adapted his play Bug into a 2006 film directed by William Friedkin. The movie stars Ashley Judd as Agnes and Michael Shannon reprising the role of Peter, which he originated on stage in London and off Broadway.

From the play’s hard-to-categorize story to how it’s rooted in a strange romance, learn more intriguing info about Bug on Broadway.

• It's a couple's comeback: Carrie Coon met Tracy Letts when they auditioned for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which they ended up co-starring in. Now married, they're reunited professionally with Bug.
• It’s a genre-bender: The play mixes psychological thriller, horror, and dark comedy, pushing the boundaries of traditional theatre.
• It’s a love story: Letts has said that Bug dives into folie à deux, a psychological term that means “the madness of two.” “It’s when one person literally catches another person’s psychosis,” he said, “which also seemed to me kind of like love.”
• It’s not timid: The Off-Broadway production came with a sign at the box office stating that the show contained nudity, violence, and cigarette smoking.

Tracy Letts excels at creating vivid characters and high-stakes situations. In Bug, that’s all in plain view as two people — fueled by conspiracy, loneliness, and loss — unravel.

Check back for information on Bug Broadway tickets on New York Theatre Guide.