ad Theatre at CENTERSTAGE is the place to go this month if you are looking to watch a classic American drama with a gritty masculine side.
The play is David Mamet's American Buffalo, the story of three men whose lives get entangled in a plan to steal a valuable coin and any other coins in its near vicinity.
You see, Don (played by William Hill) has just sold the coin to a man for $90, no small sum by any means, but then he checks the book and decides it's worth much more. The American Dream is at the center of everything, of course.
One might think it should be an easy gig since the action takes place in the days before high-tech security systems and 9-11 speed-dials on cell phones.
But the characters make it hard on themselves. They're not all that smart and really not that organized.
Teach (played by Jordan Lage) worms into his position as Don's partner in crime; needing in on the action he spends his time on stage manically pushing the plan.
He insists, of course, it'll be an easy heist — "10 minutes, tops" — reminding his friend of such universal common-sensisms like the fact that no one in all of history has ever bought a safe for their valuables without also writing the code down somewhere nearby and visible.
The audience might sometimes get the feeling that the heist will never happen; that no one will ever leave the junk store of a stage where the actors talk and pace around for nearly two-and-a-half hours.
But that's, actually, what the play promises to be. And it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Anyone who knows Mamet should be unsurprised that the characters spend the whole production gabbing and bickering, and the set really is a junk store.
It's detailed, perhaps even more than necessary, by the diligent scenic designer Neil Patel.
The main set piece is a counter on the thrust stage, which features countless bobbles and assorted junk, all giving off a distinct flavor of classic Americana through a dust-smeared glass display.
Considering the not-so-pretty message at play about the American Dream, it's an interesting statement.
It's one of many examples in the production of reasons to keep thinking after you leave, and reasons why American Buffalo is worth seeing.
The lighting was memorable without needing to be remembered.
Lap Chi Chu puts up a singular ceiling light, which floats above the downstage part of the set and creates a sense of confinement.
For all except the audience in the front (who were likely staring up at a single overhead light bright enough to illuminate an entire stage) the result was gold, especially when one also remembers the skylight effect of the streaks of subtle blue.
Mamet's writing is notable for, as most people put it, transforming the crudest part of American vernacular into a sort of poetry.
And the actors, who all have experience in New York and elsewhere around the country, wield the unique language expertly.
The most energized performance is Lage's, who bolts around the set, with every gesture as grand as the hopes he has for himself.
This is no surprise, since he was a founder with Mamet of the Atlantic Theater Company and performed in the Tony-winning revival of his Glengarry Glen Ross.
The production has its drawbacks, especially if "Mamet isn't your thing" — a common complaint in theaters and scene workshops — but if you know what you're in for, American Buffalo is performed by experienced actors and directed by a professional with a knack for detail and realistic chaos.
In addition, it's one of the last productions to be featured in the current fourth-story Head Theater, which will soon receive an exciting and dramatic makeover from CENTERSTAGE.
Head Theater, which currently looks more like a cabaret than a theater with small tables scattered around the front of the stage, is going to be redesigned to look more like the traditional theater.
The look and feel — not to mention practicality — of a more traditional setting will add versatility to future plays.
But rest assured it's fine as is right now, and the theater proves perfectly problematic for this one, American Buffalo, a play well-suited for the most unique and quirkiest of American stages.
