NYC Immersion Review: American Buffalo
Students from Syracuse University’s Goldring Arts Journalism program recently travelled to New York City to experience the city’s art culture and review a myriad of professional shows. This review is part of a collection from said immersion.
By Gabriel Veiga
Tony-nominated Sam Rockwell interrupts a conversation between Laurence Fishburne and Darren Criss – it’s about time he gets on stage, up until this point each forced line is over-rehearsed and robotic. Even the set, a junk shop overflowing with chairs hanging from the ceiling, baseball gear, lamps, and vinyl records feel almost too perfect.
This is the second revival on Broadway for American Buffalo, Al Pacino previously played Teach in 1981, and before that, Robert Duvall in the original production in 1977. In a shop in Chicago, Donny (Fishburne) sells a buffalo nickel to a customer for the low sum of $90 but suspects it’s worth a lot more than that. He plans a robbery with his younger employee, Bob (Criss). When Teach (Rockwell) gets involved, a shift in power causes things to go awry.
Directed by Neil Pepe, the play is stuck in the 1970s in desperate need of an update. David Mamet’s writing is outdated with several moments of tasteless misogyny, anti-LGBT+ lines and racism. And the worst part is, those problematic lines get laughs. It’s time for Mamet to get in there and make changes, or to simply retire this play altogether.
Fishburne and Criss deliver try hard, C+ acting. The 100 minutes is a lesson in turn-taking; “Okay, this is my time to speak. I’ll go now.” Playing characters as opposed to being characters, the two seem hyper-aware of the number of eyes watching them. Maybe they just miss the bright lights and cameras of a film set.
But then there’s Rockwell, a breath of fresh air. He has done theater before. His relaxed demeanor moves effortlessly around the stage, touching everything and playing with objects scattered throughout the shop. Even grabbing a pair of boxing gloves and funnily punching the air. Sam Rockwell is Sam Rockwell in this show, hilarious and very charismatic, but it works because he isn’t over-acting. The other two actors are doing that for him.