Review - American Buffalo

American Buffalo

By David Mamet

Raven Theatre

David Mamet is, proudly, one of our own. Born and raised in Flossmoor, IL, and honing his theatrical prowess in Chicago proper, Mamet is considered one of America’s most gifted living playwright’s. And there are plenty of reasons for this distinction. Mamet has a way with dialogue - as is evident in American Buffalo. His prose is rambling yet sharp, bombastic yet finessed, crass yet poetic. But most of all, his thespian banter is believable, which makes for starkingly real characters.

There is not much of a plot in American Buffalo. Set in a Chicago resale shop, it tells the story of three disenfranchised men embroiled in the inept planning of the heist of a coin collection. But what this play lacks in storyline, it makes up for in substance.

Raven Theatre’s American Buffalo is, by all accounts, triumphant in uncovering the raw underbelly of those people on the fringe of society, who have lost all hope in the system, that believe the only way to get their due is through unsavory means. But the triumph is not in pulling off this portrayal, but in the convincing of the audience that this immoral activity is completely understandable and, indeed, is sensible. Such is the brilliance of a great playwright teamed with an adroit director.

The director, Michael Menendian, makes a strong case of showing that those embroiled in this situation have lost perspective that they are really doing anything wrong. A sense of a salvageable conscience is replaced by a self-effacing feeling of heist as a job. How can you make the case that it’s valid for two-bit criminals to wrongfully beat a boy to a pulp and then blame the bleeding boy for leading them on? No apologies or remorse, just going on with their business. But in this study such behavior is eerily accepted as okay by the believable characters and, in succession, the audience. This is a study, then, on a small scale, of how seemingly moralistic people can be deluged into blaming others for their own violence and ignorance, which is especially poignant today in regards to those arguing for the moral righteousness of the Iraq War.

The acting in this production is superb. Seth Remington’s character Bob, a young jittery supposedly ex-heroine addict, plays his character’s spastic hopelessness with dead-on pathetic desperation. The physically explosive role of Walter “Teach” Cole is frighteningly played by Brian McCaskill. McCaskill holds nothing back - his lunatic physicality of slamming tables and damaging walls not to mention his abuse of Bob, is carried out with such rage that the spectator fears for their own safety. This character possesses Mamet’s best dialogue, and McCaskill spews out his judgments and profanities exactly as should be. Finally, playing the likable but clueless resale shop owner, Richard Cotovsky, though starting out a bit rigid, goes on to finely capture his character’s struggle with accountability. Cotovsky’s especially shows his talent in the final scene as he switches back and forth, second to second, from being a protective mentor of the bleeding Bob to a business-as-usual con-man, following Teach’s lead.

As for the look of the show, it’s infallible. The play’s director, Menendian, also doubles as the set designer, and it is a total mess, which is a good thing. This resale shop is not a shop per se, but a resting place for crap - everything from broken refrigerators to old kettles to even a metal lock used to hold down pigs during their slaughter (who knew such a thing existed? Talk about a niche market…). The rest of the design team, Christine Ferriter, JoAnn Montemurro, and Nick Keenan, have put together a masterful environment for the unfolding of the play. Kudos to all.

American Buffalo, Mamet’s first play, is short. Barely 90-minutes, which includes intermission, it clips along at an aggressively frenetic pace. But this hyperactive tale is presented by the Raven Theatre team with controlled finesse, and they have uncovered every artistic gem that has made Mamet’s first work an American classic. Thank you, Raven, for your contribution to Chicago’s bragging rights as the most happening place for theater in America.

Rating: Recommended (3.5 stars)

Reviewed by Scotty Zacher

[email protected]



	David Mamet is one of our own *American* *Buffalo* By David Mamet Raven Theatre http://raventheatre.com/ David Mamet is, proudly, one of our own. Born and raised in Flossmoor, IL, and honing his theatrical prowess in Chicago proper, Mamet is considered one of America’s most gifted living playwright’s. And there are plenty of reasons for this distinction. Mamet has a way with dialogue - as is evident in American Buffalo. His prose is rambling yet sharp, bombastic yet finessed, crass yet poetic. But most of all, his thespian banter is believable, which makes for starkingly real characters. There is not much of a plot in American Buffalo. Set in a Chicago resale shop, it tells the story of three disenfranchised men embroiled in the inept planning of the heist of a coin collection. But what this play lacks in storyline, it makes up for in substance. Raven Theatre’s American Buffalo is, by all accounts, triumphant in uncovering the raw underbelly of those people on the fringe of society, who have lost all hope in the system, that believe the only way to get their due is through unsavory means. But the triumph is not in pulling off this portrayal, but in the convincing of the audience that this immoral activity is completely understandable and, indeed, is sensible. Such is the brilliance of a great playwright teamed with an adroit director. The director, Michael Menendian, makes a strong case of showing that those embroiled in this situation have lost perspective that they are really doing anything wrong. A sense of a salvageable conscience is replaced by a self-effacing feeling of heist as a job. How can you make the case that it’s valid for two-bit criminals to wrongfully beat a boy to a pulp and then blame the bleeding boy for leading them on? No apologies or remorse, just going on with their business. But in this study such behavior is eerily accepted as okay by the believable characters and, in succession, the audience. This is a study, then, on a small scale, of how seemingly moralistic people can be deluged into blaming others for their own violence and ignorance, which is especially poignant today in regards to those arguing for the moral righteousness of the Iraq War. The acting in this production is superb. Seth Remington’s character Bob, a young jittery supposedly ex-heroine addict, plays his character’s spastic hopelessness with dead-on pathetic desperation. The physically explosive role of Walter “Teach” Cole is frighteningly played by Brian McCaskill. McCaskill holds nothing back - his lunatic physicality of slamming tables and damaging walls not to mention his abuse of Bob, is carried out with such rage that the spectator fears for their own safety. This character possesses Mamet’s best dialogue, and McCaskill spews out his judgments and profanities exactly as should be. Finally, playing the likable but clueless resale shop owner, Richard Cotovsky, though starting out a bit rigid, goes on to finely capture his character’s struggle with accountability. Cotovsky’s especially shows his talent in the final scene as he switches back and forth, second to second, from being a protective mentor of the bleeding Bob to a business-as-usual con-man, following Teach’s lead. As for the look of the show, it’s infallible. The play’s director, Menendian, also doubles as the set designer, and it is a total mess, which is a good thing. This resale shop is not a shop per se, but a resting place for crap - everything from broken refrigerators to old kettles to even a metal lock used to hold down pigs during their slaughter (who knew such a thing existed? Talk about a niche market…). The rest of the design team, Christine Ferriter, JoAnn Montemurro, and Nick Keenan, have put together a masterful environment for the unfolding of the play. Kudos to all. American Buffalo, Mamet’s first play, is short. Barely 90-minutes, which includes intermission, it clips along at an aggressively frenetic pace. But this hyperactive tale is presented by the Raven Theatre team with controlled finesse, and they have uncovered every artistic gem that has made Mamet’s first work an American classic. Thank you, Raven, for your contribution to Chicago’s bragging rights as the most happening place for theater in America. Rating: Recommended (3.5 stars) Reviewed by Scotty Zacher [email protected] Hosted by www.Geocities.ws