Carrie Coon in conversation
The actress on “Bug,” conspiracy theories and her husband, Tracy Letts.
On Monday, Steppenwolf Theatre Company opens “Bug,” a play by Tracy Letts that was first seen in London in 1996 and, subsequently, at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago, where it starred Michael Shannon and Shannon Cochran, and then at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York.
Set in a cheap motel room outside Oklahoma City — a region much dissected by Letts in the years that followed — “Bug” follows the trajectory of a persuasive young drifter and the malleable waitress who falls in love with him. The title refers to the insects that wend their way into the narrative, or, at least, into the characters’ increasingly intense perceptions of their own story. “Bug” feels much like a study in paranoia, unless you think governmental actions make the word redundant.
Steppenwolf ’s all new production is directed by David Cromer, a Chicago director who has carved out a career on Broadway in recent years. Its star this time is Carrie Coon, 39, known for her work on “The Leftovers” and married to Letts. The couple live in Bucktown with their new baby. Coon, who has performed four times at Steppenwolf, met up to talk in a nearby cafe, just before leaving for the Sundance Film Festival to promote her new movie, “The Nest.” The following has been edited from our conversation.
Q: This is your first play as an ensemble member.
A: Yes. I really didn’t expect to be made an ensemble member because it was always very dubious when I would be able to commit to the theater, because of the things that are happening in my career in TV and film. I was very shocked.
Q: I wasn’t. But did it mean something to you?
A: Oh, absolutely. I came to this city like every young actor, trying to audition. It is quickly apparent where you want to work. I am lucky that Steppenwolf pulled me in.
Q: This is not exactly your first appearance in a Tracy Letts play. You must know the man pretty well by now.
A: I remember I used to think he was a girl. What a talented woman, I used to think. But yes, “Mary Page Marlowe” was his play. And the “Three Sisters” was his adaptation. But this is my first crack at leading lady in one of those plays that launched his career. Slowly. I’ve always thought that “Bug” was a transitional play, sitting between the gothic
“Killer Joe” and “The Man From Nebraska,” more of a realistic piece. But you would know better than me. I see Tracy in all of them, of course. He has a very distinctive voice and humor is always a part of his writing. And he’s not afraid of theatricality. But there is always a meta consideration, a central metaphor about America. What I love about Tracy’s work is that it never feels like he is writing the same play over and over again. And I can’t say that about every playwright. Whether an individual effort is or is not successful, he is always innovating. And you have to remember in his early career, he was working under the constraints of a small Chicago theater company. He was basically writing to employ his friends. There had to be a unit set. Characters of certain ages. When he wrote “Bug,” he was thinking about the same company that had created “Killer Joe.”
Q: David Cromer is a new wrinkle.
A: I love Cromer and have always wanted to work with him. I loved “The Band’s Visit.” I don’t like most musicals. I think I don’t entirely understand them. But that one was staged so I understood why people were singing. He knows how to make simple, classy transitions. This will be the classiest production that “Bug” had ever been gifted. The production values are so much higher than has ever been the case before. “Bug” doesn’t usually get this kind of treatment.
Q: Originally, this was a very famous Michael Shannon performance.
A: He and Tracy did a Q&A at the Music Box (theater). They were like rock stars. “Bug” does represent the best of Chicago fringe theater. In some ways, we are up against the memory of that production. But it is also exciting to introduce this play to a new generation. It’s a love story. It’s ultimately a metaphor about love and codependency and what happens to us when we are in love. Isn’t that what love is? A shared delusion?
Q: If you say so.
A: Whether or not you’ve ever had a bug infestation, we’ve all been involved in our own love stories for better or worse. The play is not exactly hopeful — I mean it is what it is — but the characters do find some purpose for their life in the end. And then they save the world. See, I am in a play about two people who are in love and save the world.
Q: What about the whole government-conspiracy thing?
A: We have a conspiracy theorist in the White House, for god’s sake! “Bug” has never been more relevant. The psychology of the play, by the way, is absolutely sound. You can justify paranoia and conspiracy; the play accounts for both. And these days, there is no truth. There is no objectivity. We can’t even have a rational argument any more. That is a real disservice toward policy making. Conspiracy theories used to be passed around on ham radio. Now there are men, primarily, in the White House who make decisions about going to war and their foundational beliefs are conspiracy theories.
Q: You are outspoken on the Twitter.
A: I know. I didn’t want to be. But it’s therapeutic. Having a toddler has been a blessing because it forces me to take time out from the news.
Q: But you are not a branded actress in that social-media kind of way. You’re boutique.
A: I don’t like that branding thing. I am always saying to my team — and, yes, I have a team now, Chris — that I never want to be that. I hate the idea that a person is a brand. It feels exactly like Citizens United and the idea that corporations are actually people. It’s all part of the same problem.
Q: What is your trajectory now? Your dual careers are crazy.
A: Yes, isn’t it weird that Tracy is having this great movie career in his 50s? That was unexpected. This is the first time I’ve done a play with a toddler and it’s much tougher to work in the theater than on TV and film, where there are a lot more breaks. You sit on your butt. It’s so much harder to work in the theater. You work hours that aren’t all that amenable. You can’t do everything — it’s hard to be a good actor, a good mom and take care of yourself. My joke is I now will only do something very easy or very hard. The payoff for doing a job has to merit the time. I don’t mean career payoff, but I mean what it gives you. I have a mommy group of Chicago actors who have kids.
We never see each other.
Q: You’re both staying in town, though. Right?
A: We’re here. We are committed to our theater company. Our house is down the street. As I sit here, I am still figuring out what it is to have a toddler in Chicago. We’re in a place in our careers now where we can take turns, but we’re also very much aware that this might be the peak. So there you go.
“Bug” is now in previews and runs through March 8 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted St.; 312-335-1650 and www.steppenwolf.org