Bug playwriting review

This is the one show in the Senior Theatre Festival that I actually managed to read before I saw it, so I had some idea of what I thought the show would be like going into it.

First, I thought the set was extremely well-done. In my opinion, it is just as much of a character in Bug as Peter or Agnes. I really enjoyed how it evolved over the course of the play, and how, from start to finish, it felt very lived-in. One thing I really wished for was something to suggest what the wallpaper looked like...possibly some panels around the closet or bathroom door. I could understand how grimy the hotel was supposed to look from the floor, but I think seeing what the walls looked like would have made it more convincing.

I think the actors did a great job with the dialogue of Bug. The talking, especially in the beginning, is very "chattery"--the characters talk over one another, often with very inane speech. I know some people complained that the actors were having trouble making themselves heard over one another, but I think that is sort of the point. I think Max Westhelle's Peter Evans was very convincing, and he went above and beyond what I had expected from the character: he was awkward, bizarre, and downright frightening. My favorite Peter moment was when he jumped all over the place explaining to Agnes his entire conspiracy theory. He effectively became a psychotic ballerina. I loved it.

I also enjoyed Caitie Auld's performance of Agnes. I really liked the direction she had in the beginning when she was in the hotel alone for a while. It really helped to highlight her isolation and how Peter would change that later. I think she did a good job of showing the character's confusion to everything happening around her, and her frenzied desperation to understand it all.

While I think Max's performance was the best, a close second had to be Noah Kaplan's Jerry. He did a wonderful job nailing down what a bastard Jerry is to Agnes and Peter. I think his characterization can be summed up by the snakeskin boots that he wore: sleek but slimy.

Overall, the direction for Bug was good. I never felt like I was really losing a lot of what was going on in the scene, as it so often happens with theatre-in-the-round. The actors all did a very good job at playing to all sides of the audience. I really enjoyed the performance.