|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
THEATER REVIEW American Buffalo
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2016-02-10
|
|
This article shared 4854 times since Wed Feb 10, 2016
|
|
Playwright: David Mamet. At: Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan Rd. Tickets: 773-871-0442; www.maryarrchie.com; $30. Runs through: March 6
With the wrecking ball looming on the horizon, Mary-Arrchie Theatre returns to its roots for one last stand, and in doing so, demonstrates once again the blend of visceral and cerebral performance that launched its 30-year-career as one our city's foremost off-Loop companies.
David Mamet's terse little morality fable was a driving force in putting Chicago on the map in 1975, spawning a wave of imitations lasting into the mid-1990s. Its McGuffin is the rare coina 19-ought-something buffalo-head nickelreferenced in the play's title, recently purchased from Don Dubrow's seedy junk shop by a collector. No sooner has the unprepossessing relic left the premises, however, than badass buddy "Teach" Cole hatches a scheme to steal it back. As the progress of this plan grows increasingly complicatedthanks to the interference of teenage street-waif Bobby and assorted unseen ( but vividly described ) acquaintanceseach of these would-be hustlers will find the extent of his greed tested to the brink of inhumanity.
Young actors also frequently find themselves testedby Mamet's dialogue. Teach's propensity for multiple vituperations conjuring veritable symphonies of vitriolic language too often makes for words gushing forth in a burst of unwavering adrenaline that directors are either unable or unwilling to interrupt, resulting in a thrilling ride for the perpetrators and a boring one for audiences. Not Mary-Arrchie, however: Under the orchestration of Carlo Lorenzo Garcia, players Richard Cotovsky, Stephen Walker and Rudy Galvin take advantage of their intimate playing space to carefully pace their text so that our attention is focused, not on verbal showiness, but on the ethical values under examination. For example, after Don has explained to Bobby the necessity of separating business and friendship, we become attuned to the subtle shades of meaning ascribed to those two words when uttered by speakers of widely varying scruples.
Lest we discern this dramatic question too quickly, its author has cleverly buried it in a welter of distracting elements, beginning with Don's cluttered inventoryassembled by John Holt to encompass, among other detritus, five deer-head trophies, a pig butcher's spreader and stacks of lightweight metal tschotchkes to facilitate one of fight designer David Woolley's splendid bash-crash-and-trash debacles. Whether you have experienced Mamet's seminal masterpiece many times before, or number among the few theatergoers seeing it for the first time, be assured that your final climb up the stairs to the loft above the grocery store will lead you to what may be the best production in its long history of defining "Chicago-style theater" to the world. |
|
|
|
This article shared 4854 times since Wed Feb 10, 2016
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | THEATER 'Mamma Mia!' returns to Chicago with 'Daddyhunt' star Jim Newman 2024-04-24 - "Who's your daddy?" That's the key plot question driving the global hit Mamma Mia! The global smash jukebox musical famously features the song hits of Swedish pop group ABBA, and it returns for a three-week run ...
|
| | Local queer opera composer premiering her first show, a coming-of-age tale with LGBTQ+ themes 2024-04-23 - A Lake View woman is debuting her first opera as a composer, a coming-of-age story with LGBTQ+ themes. Gillian Rae Perry, a fellow with the Chicago Opera Theater's Vanguard program for emerging artists, composed The Weight ...
|
| | The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20 - Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19 - I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...
|
| | Kokandy Productions now accepting submissions for Chicago Musical Theater Fest returning Aug. 8-11 2024-04-18 --From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2024) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to open submissions for the 2024 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, returning this summer following a four-year hiatus. Kokandy is thrilled to ...
|
| | THEATER Blue in the Right Way's 'Women Beware Women' offers feminist, trans take on a troubling Jacobean tragedy 2024-04-18 - "Problematic" is a great go-to adjective to describe Women Beware Women. This 1621 Jacobean tragedy is by English playwright Thomas Middleton, who is probably best remembered as a collaborator with William Shakespeare on their pessimistic tragedy ...
|
| | Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announces programs for May 17-19 season finale 2024-04-17 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced program selections for Spring Series: Of Joy, the final installment of Season 46, Abundance. The engagement will include four unique works, once ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...
|
| | Open Space Arts's COCK offers a complex but compelling take on relationships 2024-04-08 By Brian Kirst - Premiering in 2009, Mike Bartlett's COCK was a comic revelation, exploring notions about fluidity and sexual labelling long before they became commonplace discussions. Granted, conversations about these issues will always ...
|
| | Jeff Awards launches submission period for Impact Awards 2024-04-06 - The Jeff Awards announced the opening period for applications submissions for its 2024 honors to help inspire early career artists of color in the Greater Chicagoland area. Two recipients will be selected for awards of $10,000 ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05 - For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29 Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...
|
| | WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29 - Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...
|
| | City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor talks theater, comics, queerness 2024-03-26 - City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 seasonwhich will be the company's 44th. It will also be the first season to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume ...
|
| | The Jeff Awards announces the 50th anniversary awards for non-equity theater 2024-03-26 --From a press release - A complete list of recipients can also be found online in the Non-Equity and News and Events sections at www.jeffawards.org. (March 25, 2024 - Chicago) — Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the ...
| |
|
|
|
|
| New Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students...to a point | | NATIONAL Ohio law blocked, Trevor Project, Rev. Troy Perry, ICE suit, Elon Musk | | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' | | LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project set to hold its second annual exhibition | | WORLD Nigeria arrest, Chilean murderer, trans ban, Olivier Awards, marriage items | |
|
|
|
|