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Playhouse tackles Mamet’s ‘American Buffalo’
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Playhouse will wrap up its season with “American Buffalo,” playwright David Mamet’s prize-winning drama.
The play, directed by Pat Foltz, opens Friday in the intimate Moyer Room and will run for six performances over two weeks.
As is typical of a Mamet play, “American Buffalo” uses a small cast, is set entirely in one room, and is a torrent of witty and biting conversation.
“It’s rapid fire, and they talk over each other,” said Foltz, who most recently directed “The Colored Museum” in the fall at the Playhouse.
“American Buffalo” looks in on three small-time crooks – played by Matthew Mazuroski, Timothy Thomas and Mark Warchol – who are planning to heist a valuable coin collection (and yes, there is a Buffalo nickel involved).
The drama earned the Obie (Off-Broadway Theater) Award and the New York Critics Circle Award, and various stage productions have utilized a number of top actors, including William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, John Savage, Al Pacino, John Goodman, Cedric the Entertainer, Haley Joel Osment and John Leguizamo. A 1996 film version starred Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz.
As is also typical of a Mamet play, “American Buffalo” contains violence and strong language, and is recommended for mature audiences.
Foltz, director of the Playhouse production, is not the biggest Mamet fan but developed an appreciation for “Buffalo.”
“Some people talked me into reading it, and I thought it was hysterically funny ... until the ending,” said Foltz. “I really like [Mamet’s] earlier stuff, like ‘Glengarry Glen Ross,’ and this is his first full-length play.”
The quick drama (running time is 1:50, with intermission) is set in a junk store in 1974.
“It’s three lowlifes in Chicago, and it has that Chicago feel,” said Foltz. “It’s quite graphic and vulgar. You get the idea fairly early on that these guys are really fencing hot material and the store is a cover.
“Not much happens, but a lot of it has the feel of the Three Stooges, or Abbott and Costello. And Act 2 feels very much like ‘Waiting for Godot.’”
Foltz was referring to Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play about two characters who wait endlessly for someone who never arrives.