American Buffalo

American Buffalo

By David Mamet

Directed by Jason Vaughan Evans

Feb. 12 – 29, 2004

Thu. – Sat. 8pm, Sun. 4pm

Tickets: $15.50 – $19.50

Shimberg Playhouse, Straz Center for the Performing Arts

What It's About

For down-and-out junk dealer Don (Paul Potenza), life goes from unlucky to unbearable when he discovers the rare buffalo head nickel he just sold is worth 10 times as much as he let it go for. Refusing to let himself be out-swindled, he enlists a young protégé, Bobby (Ryan McCarthy), in a scheme to steal the coin back. But their plans are suddenly altered by the intrusion of Teach (Ned Averill-Snell) a disturbingly aggressive would-be thief who badgers Don into cutting him in on the heist – a decision that carries explosive consequences for everyone involved.

American Buffalo is regarded by many to be a great commentary on American society. The Observer says “This play is a parable about the US – not in the journalistic way…but quietly, stealthily, with all the rich interior organization of a true work of art” American Buffalo, also Mamet’s Broadway debut, was honored with a New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play in 1977.

Jobsite is thrilled to dive for the first time into the world of David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the Plow, Sexual Perversity in Chicago). David Mamet is a leading American playwright whose spare, gritty work reflects the rhythms of Harold Pinter and the tough attitudes of his native Chicago. Noted for his strong male characters and their macho posturings, Mamet’s knack for creating low-key yet highly charged verbal confrontations in a male-dominated world has consistently made his work a hot topic for discussion and deconstruction.

(L-R) Ned Averill-Snell and Paul J. Potenza in Jobsite's American Buffalo. (Photo: Brian Smallheer.)
(L-R) Ryan McCarthy, Paul J. Potenza, and Ned Averill-Snell in Jobsite's American Buffalo. (Photo: Brian Smallheer.)

Critic Reviews

Worth paying attention to. – St. Petersburg Times

News

Cast & Crew

  • Jason Evans – Director

Cast

  • Ned Averill-Snell – Teach
  • Ryan McCarthy – Bobby
  • Paul J. Potenza – Donny

Crew

  • Summer Bohnenkamp – Costume Designer
  • John Lott – Lighting Designer
  • Brian M. Smallheer – Scenic Designer