Creepy ‘Bug’ will leave you jittery

Pulitzer and Tony award-winning playwright Tracy Letts explores the collateral damage left over from the first Iraq war through the paranoid delusions of a Gulf War vet in his creepy play, “Bug,” directed by Will Adamson and Aaron Oetting for the Cockroach Theatre at the Art Square.

Agnes, a lonely, self-isolated waitress, traumatized by the kidnapping of her young son from a supermarket 10 years ago, is being stalked by her “significant trouble,” convict ex-husband, Jerry. Her lesbian biker friend and meth dealer, R.C., introduces Agnes to Peter, whose plaintive assurance to her that, “I’m not an ax murderer,” is sufficient to convince the desperate Agnes to let him crash on her floor. Turns out that should be the least of her concerns.

The Gulf War vet quickly begins to display symptoms of Ekbom’s syndrome, a delusion of parasitic infestation that in his paranoia he believes was implanted in him by Army doctors during the mass vaccination of Gulf War soldiers. Being bugged takes on a bizarre double meaning because Peter believes that the government is using the infestation to monitor him.

Though “Bug” premiered in 1996, the play’s paranoia immediately resonates with contemporary audiences because of the Edward Snowden revelations about massive NSA surveillance and separate reports on the military’s use of torture. Revelations about government-sponsored medical experimentation on unknowing subjects and mass surveillance give Peter’s conspiracy theories a ring of plausibility.

Adamson and Oetting wisely focus on the humanity of Letts’ characters, who find it easier to weave conspiracy theories to explain their troubles than to face the horror of their everyday reality: poverty, addiction, PTSD, loss, abuse.

In her desperation to hold on to Peter and to find answers about her kidnapped son, Agnes becomes converted to Peter’s delusion, a result not uncommon among Ekbom’s sufferers. Sabrina Cofield gives a moving and controlled portrayal of Agnes’ descent into paranoid hysteria.

Levi Fackrell as Peter is perfectly believable in his delusions — maybe there really are bugs in the room — because he never overplays his paranoia. Much of the humor and horror in his performance comes from playing it deadpan.

Ryan Hess is a physical giant compared to the rest of the cast, and he uses his height to make Jerry seem even more threatening. But his performance stands out in his small moments of intimacy, such as when Jerry finds an old shirt of his son’s and smells it.

Tressa Bern as lesbian biker and meth dealer R.C. keeps the play grounded in good-humored reality. You know things are going to get bizarre when Letts makes R.C. the play’s sober voice. When she is banished by Agnes, the betrayal is heartbreaking and when she exits, so does sanity.

Letts suggests that when paranoid conspiracy theories dovetail with today’s headlines, perhaps society is going crazy. Adamson and Oetting never let us forget the human suffering that is the consequence.