World Premiere of Bughouse Delays Off-Broadway Previews at the Vineyard

World Premiere of Bughouse Delays Off-Broadway Previews at the Vineyard

In Beth Henley's new play, audiences enter the mind of Henry Darger, a reclusive janitor whose paintings and writings were only discovered after his death.

February 13, 2026 By Meg Masseron, Margaret Hall

The world premiere of Bughouse will begin performances Off-Broadway at Vineyard Theatre one week later than previously announced. Now starting previews February 24, opening night remains March 11.

The previously scheduled February 18-22 performances are canceled, and ticketholders can reschedule for another performance by contacting the Vineyard Theatre box office at (212) 353-0303.

The world premiere, conceived and directed by MacArthur Genius fellow Martha Clarke, features a script by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley, adapted from the writings of Henry Darger. The Vineyard production will star Obie-winning performance artist John Kelly as Darger. The production is being presented in association with Jayne Baron Sherman.

In the piece, Clarke brings audiences inside the mind of one of the 20th century’s most startling outsider artists, Henry Darger, a reclusive janitor whose extraordinary body of paintings and writings was only fully discovered after his death. In his cramped Chicago apartment, Darger created a vast, fantastical universe, filled with child warriors, epic battles, and haunting beauty, an alternate reality through which he could escape his own.

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 prop manager Faye Armon-Troncoso, cinematographer Fred Murphy, animator Ruth Lingford, and production stage manager Olivia Fletcher.

Visit VineyardTheatre.org.