| Agnes (Hannah Martin) and Peter (Jimmy DeMarco) discuss their personal demons in ‘Bug’ (Photo: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune) |
There’s a reason "Bug" is set in Oklahoma City. Gulf War vet Tim McVeigh, and maybe other
conspirators, blew up a federal building there. It’s where Agnes White’s 6-year-old son went missing in
the grocery store. It seems such a likely breeding ground for parasitic aphids and free-range American
paranoia.
"Bug" is a connect-the-dots exploration of the conspiratorial train of thought that still runs
through the national consciousness.
The Lionface production, directed by Michael Portteus, opens tonight at 8 and continues Saturday at 8
p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the auditorium in the former South Main School, 437 S. Main St., a setting
that adds to the play’s creepiness. Tickets are $7 and $5 for students.
Written by Tracy Letts, "Bug" moves by indirection, setting the viewer up for a sordid domestic
drama.
It’s been nine years since Agnes’ child disappeared. Agnes (Hannah Martin) lives in a seedy motel,
smoking crack, afraid that her violent ex-husband Jerry Goss (Ryan Halfhill) will show up.
The phone keeps ringing. Nobody’s there. This is where people land after life spins out of control.
Her friend R.C. (Brittany Pausch) brings along Peter Evans (Jimmy DeMarco), a guy she just met.
He promises and delivers a bit of warmth and comfort from her night fears. Peter talks softly to the
point of being inaudible, and when he speaks up it’s with a strangely precise diction about murky ideas.
He seems like he’ll provide scant protection against the hulking Jerry. And he brings along demons of his
own.
Halfhill’s Jerry is looming and dark, his body just able to contain his rage, threatening even when
making small talk. He’s the kind of bully fully capable of haunting Agnes’ nights.
Martin makes Agnes’ fears palpable in her eyes and frame. She’s desperate for the companionship Peter
offers, even if he baffles her.
He uses big words such as "matriarchal," which he defines with a reference to Barbara Stanwyck
in "The Big Country."
His brain is abuzz. He has his own reasons to be afraid. Their fears draw Agnes and Peter together. Their
fight against an infestation of bugs only brings them closer.
Martin and DeMarco work well together, their link is believably fragile, yet seemingly unbreakable even
as R.C. tries to intervene when she senses things are amiss.
They are two against the world represented by a pizza delivery guy (John Gazda) and the intrusive Dr.
Sweet (Sarah Fryling).
Agnes starts to put everything together, and in one stunning scene, it all spills out. The missing child,
the CIA, the Army, the bugs. Everyone it seems from Jim Jones to Barbara Stanwyck, maybe even you and I,
are all part of it.
