Manhattan Theatre Club will present the Broadway premiere of Bug, written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts, and directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer.
This production of Bug comes to Broadway following its 2021 run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. Check out photos from the Steppenwolf production here.
Bug begins performances on Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Opening night is Thursday, January 8, 2026.
Bug will star three-time Emmy Award nominee and Tony Award nominee Carrie Coon (Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, TV: "The White Lotus," "Fargo," "The Gilded Age") as Agnes White, Namir Smallwood (Pass Over, TV: "American Rust") as Peter Evans, Randall Arney (Steppenwolf's You Can't Take it With You, True West) as Dr. Sweet, Jennifer Engstrom (Sweet Bird of Youth at Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) as R.C., and Steve Key (Sweat, Off-Broadway: Blue Surge, The Effect) as Jerry Goss.
"We are thrilled to welcome Tracy Letts to our stage for the first time with his remarkable play Bug, in a masterful production that originated at Steppenwolf," said Lynne Meadow. "Tracy's voice is one of the most daring and original in the American theatre, and this piece shines a light on the ways that fear, isolation, and conspiracy can infiltrate the human psyche. It's exactly the kind of vital work MTC is proud to produce -- a play that provokes thoughtful conversation and reminds us of theatre's power to reveal the invisible forces that shape our world. We're pleased to be bringing director David Cromer back to the Friedman after his acclaimed production of Prayer for the French Republic graced our stage last year, and to be welcoming the talented cast -- led by Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood -- all of whom are making their MTC debuts."
"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," commented Tracy Letts. "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. I'm thrilled Manhattan Theatre Club is taking this on. It's the right theatre with the right play at the right time."
From Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County) and Tony Award-winning director David Cromer (Prayer for the French Republic, The Band's Visit) comes the Broadway premiere of Steppenwolf's acclaimed staging of a cult classic about an unexpected and intense romance between a lonely waitress (Carrie Coon) and a mysterious drifter (Namir Smallwood). 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.