American Theatre Company
Tickets: (773) 929-1031
Through January 22
What better city to see American Buffalo than Chicago? David Mamet's 1975 play, receiving a flawless production at the American Theatre Company, crackles with wit and teaches us all something about loneliness.
This American Buffalo, co-directed by ATC Artistic Director Brian Russell and the original "Teach", Mike Nussbaum, is a production that as you watch it, you can just feel the history in the room. Especially since I was sitting next to Mike Nussbaum. In his program notes, Mr. Nussbaum remarks that he still chuckles at the play, and that he still uses lines from the play ("I'm not averse to this") in everyday conversation. That comment in itself is a testament to the play's timelessness and naturalness. This play, perhaps more than any other, depict the underside of life. The fact that it's set in Chicago makes it even more interesting to see. American Buffalo is a museum piece of theatre.
Set in a resale/junk shop, the play begins as Donny (John Mohrlein) and his surrogate son Bobby (Andrew Micheli) discuss an upcoming robbery of one of their neighbors, a yuppie who bought a buffalo nickel off Donny for ninety dollars. Donny, angry that he may have been taken advantage of, wants the nickel back. In comes Teach (John Sterchi), a small-time hustler, who immediately wants in on this heist. What could easily have been a trite event-based play about petty theft instead becomes a brilliant character study of these three men, and we learn far too much about one of them. American Buffalo is ultimately a play about loneliness, deception and self-denial.
Brilliantly directed by the team of Mr. Russell and Mr. Nussbaum, this production does not look like a play directed by two men. You can tell these two were on the same page. There are no seams in this production. The pacing is as fast as the traffic on the Autobahn. It grabs you from the very beginning and never lets you go. The set, by Scott Cooper, is a mass of junk, and I'm sure, a far more intiricate design that one might think. This coupled with Ann Davis' property design and Rita Pietrasek's perfectly bleak lighting design, create the perfect atmosphere for the play.
The acting is excellent. John Mohrlien's Donny is a perfect balance of practicality and desperation. John Sterchi's, Teach is a ball of fire, lashing out at everything and everyone in his path, but at the same time showing his massive amount of insecurity. Andrew Micheli, as Bobby, a drug addict who will do anything to be accepted by Donny, doesn't miss a beat in his perfectly tuned performance.
There isn't much time left to see American Buffalo, so I would suggest making your way to the North Side to see this American Classic.
