Carrie Coon’s “Bug” Revival Spurs Debate Over Relevance

A Broadway revival of Tracy Letts’s “Bug” is sparking debate over its prophetic resonance with conspiracy culture after Manhattan Theatre Club extended the run at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre through Feb. 8.Carrie Coon stars as Agnes (Agnes Wilson/Agnes White), a cocaine-snorting waitress in a seedy Oklahoma City motel, opposite Namir Smallwood as Gulf War veteran Peter Evans, whose claims of government experiments spiral into insect-fueled paranoia.Directed by David Cromer with sets by Takeshi Kata, the production adds flypaper strips, insulating foil and whirring helicopters to intensify the claustrophobia, earning praise for the performances even as some critics find the play repetitive and emotionally held at a remove.