Bughouse to Have World Premiere at Vineyard Theatre

Vineyard Theatre artistic director Sarah Stern and managing producer Moogie Brooks have announced the world premiere of Bughouse, conceived and directed by Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Obie Award winner and MacArthur “Genius” fellow Martha Clarke (The Garden of Earthly Delights).

Bughouse, produced in association with Jayne Baron Sherman, features a script by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart), adapted from the writings of Henry Darger, and will star Obie Award-winning performance artist John Kelly (Love of a Poet) as Darger.

Bughouse will run for six weeks, February 18, 2026-March 29, 2026, with an opening night set for March 11.

Henry Darger was a reclusive janitor whose extraordinary body of paintings and writings was only fully discovered after his death. With text adapted from Darger’s own writings, Bughouse is an examination of a self-taught artist’s compulsion to create, even when no one is watching.

The creative team includes production designer Neil Patel, costume designer Donna Zakowska, lighting designer Christopher Akerlind, sound designer Arthur Solari, projection designer John Narun, set decorator and props designer Faye Armon-Troncoso, cinematographer Fred Murphy, and animator Ruth Lingford.

As previously announced, Vineyard’s final show of the season will be ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||, a co-production with American Conservatory Theatre, written by Eisa Davis and directed by Pam MacKinnon.