{"id":246954,"date":"2014-01-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/infestation-of-letts\/"},"modified":"2014-01-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T08:00:00","slug":"infestation-of-letts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/infestation-of-letts\/","title":{"rendered":"Infestation of Letts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Charlene Baldridge | Revisi\u00f3n de teatro<\/p>\n

The works of playwright Tracy Letts have been exceptionally popular with San Diegans, who were first exposed to Letts via \u201cBug,\u201d an early, dark work that examines possible government experimentation and conspiracy from the inside out, as it were (Out! Out, damn tooth!)<\/p>\n

\"(l<\/a>
(l \u2013 r) Amanda Morrow, Hannah Logan and Steve Froehlich in ion theatre\u2019s production of \u201cBug\u201d (Courtesy Ron Logan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cygnet Theatre made audiences squirm in 2006 when they produced \u201cBug\u201d at their former Rolando space. Most everyone went home breathless, astonished and itching \u2014 part of the deal. We sometimes buy into others\u2019 paranoia no matter how paranoid and delusional it is.<\/p>\n

Now, ion theatre, which specializes in discomfort, places \u201cBug\u201d front and center at their Elaine Lipinsky Stage through February 8.<\/p>\n

Agnes (Hannah Logan), the protagonist of \u201cBug,\u201d buys into paranoia thoroughly, partly because she falls in love with Peter (Steve Froelich), a seeming sweet and gentle AWOL Gulf War veteran. Peter\u2019s first bug shows up soon after Agnes\u2019 ferocious lesbian friend R.C. (Amanda Morrow) brings Peter over. Soon Peter is in Agnes\u2019 bed, and soon Agnes is itching and so are we.<\/p>\n

\"(Courtesy<\/a>
(Courtesy Ron Logan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A barmaid, Agnes is holed up in a sleazy Oklahoma motel, hoping to escape her violent ex-husband, who has just gotten early release from prison. Poor Agnes \u2014 out of the fry pan and into the fire. As it turns out, the real menace may not be the bugs, delusional Peter, or even Scary Jerry, but the mysterious Dr. Sweet (Erik Poppick), who has been tracking Peter.<\/p>\n

ion recently introduced Froelich in \u201creasons to be pretty.\u201d Even playing a jumpy character, he is exceptionally natural and therefore a joy to watch. In her ion debut, Logan is a real find as well. She is attractive and convincing. More, please. The pair is well matched and extremely easy on the eyes, whether clad in Mary Summerday\u2019s stressed casual wear, imaginative underthings, or in the all together. So we have suspense, mystery, nudity, paranoia, drugs, sex and critters \u2014 and it\u2019s all a perfect fit, up close and quite personal in ion theatre\u2019s tiny space. A perfect fit for co-directors Claudio Raygoza and Yolanda Franklin, \u201cBug\u201d provides a 95-minute suspension of breath, and is recommended for mature audiences only. If you haven\u2019t purchased tickets yet, do so immediately. As word spreads, \u201cBug\u201d tickets will be scarce.<\/p>\n

The play and the action are splendidly supported by sound designer Melanie Chen, lighting designer Karin Filijan and technical and effects coordinator Evan Kendig, who also delivers pizza. Ron Logan and Raygoza are co-scenic designers. Glenn Paris is producer.<\/p>\n

\"(Courtesy<\/a>
(Courtesy Ron Logan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Letts\u2019 other plays are \u201cAugust: Osage County,\u201d \u201cSuperior Donuts,\u201d \u201cKiller Joe\u201d and \u201cMan From Nebraska,\u201d all of them produced locally. \u201cAugust: Osage County\u201d is a major motion picture, currently screening locally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When: 4 p.m. Saturdays and 8 p.m. Thursdays \u2013 Saturdays through Feb. 8
\nWhere: ion theatre, 3704 Sixth Ave. Hillcrest
\nTickets: $20 \u2013 $35
\nInfo: iontheatre.com or 619-600-5020<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Charlene Baldridge | Theater Review The works of playwright Tracy Letts have been exceptionally popular with San Diegans, who were first exposed to Letts via \u201cBug,\u201d an early, dark work that examines possible government experimentation and conspiracy from the inside out, as it were (Out! Out, damn tooth!)<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":246955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Infestation of Letts","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}