Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Raging against the machine: Paranoia-drenched plays like Tracy Letts’ BUG and Matthew Libby’s DATA strike a timely chord

• By drediman
• January 31, 2026
• No Comments

This past week, I came across two effective psychological thrillers that feature paranoid characters raging against the machine — particularly as it relates to the questionable interests and activities of corporations and the government — thereby striking a timely chord with contemporary theatergoers. As per usual, read on for my thoughts on these two suspicion-drenched plays.

DATA
Lucille Lortel Theatre
Through March 29

Down at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the West Village, you’ll find Matthew Libby’s new play Data (RECOMMENDED), which has settled in for a substantial run through March 29. In short, the play centers on a gifted young computer programmer-cum-data analyst at a prestigious Silicon Valley firm who wrestles with the prospect — and dangerous knock-on effects — of lending his considerable talents to bid for a lucrative but morally dubious government contract that would allow those in power to use his proprietary algorithm to determine the fates of immigration applicants. Suffice to say, Libby’s play is oh-so-timely, asking urgent ethical — and therefore political — questions that succinctly touch upon a number of pressing and divisive issues of the present moment, namely immigration and the use of data to manipulate and shape our lives. The slick and tightly constructed play is written in the style of a sturdy psychological thriller (or perhaps more descriptively a “techno thriller”?) with touches of espionage and a cautionary Black Mirror episode. Although it all unfolds with carefully-plotted predictability in terms of scene sequencing and character development/reveals, the play nonetheless makes for gripping entertainment and takes upon itself the urgent moral obligation of holding a mirror to the events currently transpiring around us. As directed with mounting intensity by Tyne Rafaeli, the production at the Lortel is sleekly designed and features a quartet of beautifully honed performances. Particularly affecting as the aforementioned programmer is Karan Brar, whose grounded performance prevents the play from veering into potential excess sensationalism.

BUG
Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Through March 8

Literally 25 years ago at a tiny storefront theater in Chicago, I first encountered Tracy Letts’ Bug (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) — starring an unknown Michael Shannon — and my eyes were pried opened to the unique ability of theater not only to shock-and-awe, but also to provoke thought and empathy. Suffice to say, it was a defining “aha” moment for this then impressionable young theatergoer. The cult play now finds itself on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a pitch-perfect production by David Cromer — courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company — with the sensational pairing of Carrie Coon (the playwright’s wife) and Namir Smallwood putting their own stamp on the work (they previously took on the roles of Agnes and Peter at Steppenwolf). Astonishingly, the motel room-set psychological thriller’s intense fascination with human connection, paranoia, mental illness, and conspiracy theories — the less details revealed about the plot, the better — lands more potently now than it did back in 2001. Despite the much larger space, Cromer has masterfully maintained the creepiness and heightened realism that are so central to the piece. Unlike Data, Letts’ early play is more artful in its conveyance of paranoia, more probing character studies and less interested in plot specifics. It’s also emotionally rawer. Coon finds herself on the stage again, where she belongs. Indeed, she is an instinctual, layered actress whose portrayal of a woman increasingly caught up in paranoia — and love — is a many-shaded piece of acting. As her counterpart, Smallwood boldly smashes the character mold established by Shannon, delivering a meticulous and haunted performance that creeps up on the viewer rather than immediately calling attention to itself. Together, they have real chemistry, and their harrowing final moments in the play are among the most dementedly romantic things you’ll ever see onstage.