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Review: Bug

It is truly a rare thing to see a piece of theatre quite so brilliantly maintain such total control over a theatre space. Tracy Letts’s Bug explores the power of conspiracy over the minds of the mentally unstable, producing the potential for raw and heartfelt performance. This potential the cast fulfil superbly and absolutely, with director Illias Thoms keeping the audience emotionally captive from start to finish with an expertly controlled ambience onstage.

When the final product comes together quite this well, it is both difficult and feels somewhat unfair to single out individual brilliance; however, in this case, lavishing praise is just too hard to resist, and there were a couple of performances in particular that caught my attention.

Henry Faber’s ‘young drifter’ Peter Evans keeps his short temper and irritability just under the surface during the opening scenes, but not so deep as to hide it entirely from the audience. As the plot develops, the more visible these traits become, almost breaking out from beneath his skin: like bugs. At times, the sheer restlessness and physical angularity of Faber’s performance conveyed such a strong sense of discomfort and stress that my arms started itching; his unpredictability onstage had people literally perched on the edge of their seats, eyes unblinking, hearts performing self-cardio.

In contrast, Jill Hanley’s Agnes White, a waitress living in a motel, plagued by her abusive ex-husband, embodies the plays continuity and stability. As these attributes gradually fall victim to the laws of entropy, shaken by Peter Evans’s ravings, Hanley steers poor Agnes into nervous wreck territory. Particularly well judged here I felt was the rate at which Hanley’s character declined; this was concomitant with the escalating stress and paranoia onstage. More often than not, such sudden panic can appear erroneous and unnecessary, but she pulls it off masterfully.

The crew of ‘Bug’, perhaps unwittingly, took full advantage of the balmy heat on Wednesday evening, which perfectly complemented the hot, sticky and diseased feel of the play; luckily there’s similar weather forecast all week while the show is still on. This is most definitely an experience. Don’t miss it.

FIVE STARS

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