


Visionary director Martha Clarke brings us 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. With text adapted from Darger’s own writings by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart), featuring an unforgettable visual and aural landscape, and starring Obie Award-winning performance artist John Kelly, Bughouse offers an intimate examination of a self-taught artist’s compulsion to create — even when no one is watching.
February 18th, 2026
March 29th, 2026
By: Beth Henley, adapted from the writings of Henry Darger
Director: Martha Clarke
Cast list: John Kelly (as Henry Darger)
Costumes: Donna Zakowska
Lighting: Christopher Akerlind
Sound: Arthur Solari
Other info: Production design by Neil Patel, projection design by John Narun, set decoration and props by Faye Armon-Troncoso, cinematography by Fred Murphy, animation by Ruth Lingford
Bughouse is at New York's Vineyard Theatre, which is located at 108 East 15th Street (between Union Square East and Irving Place), New York, 10003.
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