The pawn shop set of Seattle Repertory Theatre’s American Buffalo spills into the audience. Old chairs, lamps, pillows and junk tumble onto the edge of the stage, poke out from the catwalks, and fly into the rafters. Actors’ cigarette smoke drifts into the first several rows of the house; their impassioned expletives resonate all the way to the back.
This is how Mamet’s dark comedy needs to be done—live and wired—making the audience feel as if we are in the same room with the characters, getting infected by their energy.
But… infection of this type is not for everyone. Comments on the Rep’s blog asking for audience feedback are ranging from accolades to impassioned jeers. One called Buffalo “a low point” for the theatre. One stated that the play was “merely profane” and “illustrates the narrow, limited existence of inarticulate, criminal scum.” Hmm…
The “scum” in American Buffalo are three men who inhabit a Chicago pawn shop in the 1970s: Donnny, the owner, Teach, his friend, and Bobby, a young man from the neighborhood who looks up to Donny. It’s a “talking play” where all of the action lies in the interaction between the characters. They chat, ponder, scheme, and curse. Boy, do they curse.
This rough language is something that playwright David Mamet is known for. The dialogue gets gritty and raw and, for me at least, real. His characters are from the hard-scrabble side of the tracks, and the actors fill these roles convincingly. Charles Leggett’s Donny is avuncular but sharp, while Hans Altweis’s Teach is manic and rough. The two play off of each other expertly, exposing each other’s characters’ vulnerabilities just enough to let the audience in and make us laugh (which is a very good thing, as otherwise Donny and Teach admittedly may not be sympathetic enough to hold our interest). Zachary Simonson as Bobby holds his own as well, turning in a great performance as the good-hearted, but unfortunate, junkie.
In the program notes, Leggett states that the world of American Buffalo is like a “large, nasty petri dish.” I say, good. Even the unwanted things have the right to a voice, too.
American Buffalo. By David Mamet. Directed by Wilson Milam. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center. January 11 – February 3, 2013. Tickets and information at www.seattlerep.org or 206-443-2222. *Seattle Repertory Theatre recommends this play for ages 17 and above.