Bug
by Tracy Letts, Lynn Nottage

Name: Bug
Brand: Tracy Letts
SKU: 9780822220091
Rating: 4.02 (1227 reviews)

Off-Broadway Off-West End

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

120 mins 1900-1910 Role(s) for Black Actor(s) Multicultural Casting Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle) Unit Set/Multiple Settings Period Costumes American

Awards & Recognition

Drama Critics Circle Outer Critics Circle

Winner! 2004 New York Drama Critics Award for Best Play Winner! Two 2004 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding Off-Broadway Play Winner! 2004 American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award

Synopsis

In 1905 New York City, Esther, an African-American seamstress, is in great demand for the intimate apparel she creates for clients who range from wealthy white patrons to prostitutes.

Though leading a life that provides joy to so many, she remains lonely, longing for a husband and a future.

Through a mutual acquaintance, she begins a correspondence with a Caribbean man named George, and soon he persuades her that they should marry, sight unseen.

However, Esther’s heart is drawn to the Hasidic shopkeeper from whom she buys cloth, and his heart to hers.

When George arrives in the city, Esther is hit with the reality of the situation and she is forced to face a future that she is truly unprepared for.

Told with grace and delicacy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, Intimate Apparel presents the troubles of the heart in all their glory.

Press Reviews

"A deeply moving portrait of Esther, a middle-aged African-American woman… Nottage’s play has a delicacy and eloquence."
— New York Daily News

"Thoughtful, affecting… the play offers poignant commentary on an era when the cut and color of one’s dress – and of course, skin – determined whom one could and could not marry, sleep with, even talk to in public."
— Variety

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Mrs. Dickson 50s, African American	—	50s	50s, African American
Mrs. Van Buren 30s, white American	—	30s	30s, white American
Mr. Marks 30s, Romanian Jewish immigrant	—	30s	30s, Romanian Jewish immigrant
Mayme 30s, African American	—	30s	30s, African American
George 30s, Barbadian immigrant	—	30s	30s, Barbadian immigrant
Esther 35, African American	—	—	35, African American