American Buffalo

David Mamet’s classic American Buffalo pries apart the American Dream to see what has fallen between the cracks. American Buffalo immerses the audience into a dusty pawn shop, crammed full of bits and pieces of forgotten artifacts from times long past. Lording over the memorabilia is Don, who has enlisted his ex-junkie protégé Bobby, and long time associate and veteran grifter, Teach, to help him steal a valuable buffalo head nickel. The heist acts as a catalyst to bring into question the hustlers’ loyalties as well as their status in their imagined crime world. We become witness to the impossibility of success for these men who believe enterprise is equivalent to scam. American Buffalo was the winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award in 1977.