Bug by Tracy Letts, now at the Barrow Street Theater, is a naturalistic slice of motel life among working-class Oklahomans performed by actors with a sense of being seldom seen on the stage today. We are looking through the wall where a real life seems to be going on. Shannon Cochran, Michael Shannon, Amy Landecker, Michel Cullen and Reed Birney are a rare acting ensemble, directed with an enthralling sense of timing by Dexter Bullard. This is what "The Method" was about -- real people with genuine emotions. Lauren Helpern's super-real set with Tyler Micoleau's subdued lighting create the depressed, edge of town motel on the outskirts of urban scrawl. Sound design by Brian Ronan nicely underlines the work. It's all about a woman, her criminal ex-husband, a strange man, her lesbian friend, and an infestation of bugs. Or is it? The reality segues into paranoid melodrama conspiracy theory. But is it paranoia? Are the bugs real? Is it an army experiment gone wrong? Is it all craziness or not? Bug has some of the best acting and directing in town, and its dramatic last moment is unforgettable.
