The Constructivists Will BUG Milwaukee

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Photo via The Constructivists

BUG (2026) - The Constructivists

In a day and age when every other video one sees on the internet is suspect of being faked or AI-generated, when we normalize the fact that we carry in our pockets 24/7 recording devices with access to apps built to barter our time … paranoia and conspiracy can run rampant. The same is the case for the characters of The Constructivists’ upcoming show, Bug by Tracy Letts. 

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Photo via The Constructivists

Maya Danks

Maya Danks

“You can’t trust what you see, you can’t trust what you hear, you can’t trust that who you’re talking to is who you’re talking to … that does ring true in a big way today,” said director Maya Danks. I got to chat about the show with her and Jaimelyn Gray, artistic director of the company and playing Agnes, a waitress living out of a motel room. Gray will be joined by Joe Lino, Tess Cinpinski, Matt Specht and Robert WC Kennedy onstage.

Though the play was originally produced in 1996, its themes could not be more prevalent today. Set in one motel room over the course of multiple weeks, the play digs into the feeling that “... you’re never safe,” said Danks, “as in free from observation and manipulation.” Gray added that the play’s deliberation over the conspiracies of the late ‘90s allows us to see the trajectory into today, prompting the question of, “How did we get here?”

Challenging Stuff

“It’s so loaded,” Gray said. “You know we like to pick challenging stuff … I like a tough time, and I think it’s a real benefit to artists to work on challenging material. I think it stretches our brains and helps us to better our skill sets and move forward as artists, and I really appreciate the way that Maya works.”

With the Constructivists, you can certainly expect dark humor; I asked Danks and Gray if that would be the case for this show. “This play is super smart and very funny in a lot of ways,” Gray answered. “It’s real and grounded … but very psychologically challenging, and then a lot of dark humor dropped in just unexpectedly sometimes. [Tracy Letts] does it to keep you on your toes.”

Danks continued, “We don’t sit in the dark, the serious, the self-important of it all, because so much of that already exists on the page. It’s draining; it’s heavy. So, you lean as hard as you can into where the light and absurd is.”

Physically Dynamic Show

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Photo courtesy of Jaimelyn Gray

Jaimelyn Gray

Jaimelyn Gray

Audiences can also look forward to a very physically dynamic show, despite being set in the one room: “It’s a very prop-heavy show,” said Danks, “with a lot of fast-paced frantic scenes. Especially by the time you get to the final scene where all hell breaks loose—as happens with a lot of great plays. Trying to track time becomes very muddy, which I think is intentional.”

Like with most of the Constructivists’ shows, spoilers were duly evaded, so when I asked Gray and Danks if they had any last words for us to know before walking in, Gray let me know, “People will be like… what the hell. If you’re asking yourself, ‘Should I see it?’ Yes you absolutely should, just to ride that rollercoaster. There are some real dark bright funny spots.”

“Don’t be scared of this play,” Danks added. “I think it’s so interesting and smart and accessible. It’s smart without being pretentious. It’s dark without being trauma-dumpy-self-indulgent-shock-value-for-the-sake-of-shock-value… it’s a mystery, too! You watch it, and you’re trying to figure out the entire time what you can trust, what truth is, what reality is… and that to me is a very fun time. That’s what I think a lot of audiences will enjoy about Bug.”

BUG will run April 25-May 9 in the Studio Theater at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. Visit theconstructivists.org or ring the box office at 414-291-7800 to purchase tickets (just $20). See show description for content disclosures.