American Buffalo (Modern Plays)

This play is a parable about the US - not in the journalistic way . . . but quietly, stealthily, with all the rich interior organisation of a true work of art * Observer * [Mamet's] wonderful study of small-time crooks, set in a junk shop * Daily Telegraph * David Mamet's breakthrough play . . . is a gift to actors. * Evening Standard * the beauty of David Mamet's 40-year-old play is how much of its meaning remains implicit. . . . a far-reaching fable about the jungle of American capitalism. * Guardian * a great play, a vivid and funny evocation of dog-eat-dog capitalism. * The Times * a copper-bottomed classic by one of America's greatest playwrights . . . David Mamet's thriller-esque black comedy * Daily Telegraph * Mamet turns cast-offs into gold, crafting a brilliant, angry, touching play out of a hopeless scenario and three wonderful, rich characters out of what society would deem no-hopers. It seems as topical as ever in a world that, if anything, grows more unequal and divided. * Financial Times * it hasn't dated a jot. * Daily Express * The prestigious brilliance of this play is the revelation of truth through a miasma of lies. . . . American Buffalo still stands as a masterpiece of sustained dialogue. . . . Forty years ago, the critic Frank Rich said this was one of the great American plays. It still is. * Sunday Times * it's a battle for power, territory and allegiance. . . . Mamet writes apparently naturalistic dialogue that is actually extraordinarily stylised, patterned and poetic. * Mail on Sunday * one of Mamet's early triumphs. * Spectator *

I don't fuck with my friends, Don. I don't fuck with my business associates. I am a businessman, I am here to do business, I am here to face facts. Winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, David Mamet's American Buffalo examines the fickle nature of honour among thieves. As three small-time crooks, Walter "Teach" Cole, Don Dubrow and Bobby, plan one big-time heist, a tragedy of errors spins this razor-sharp and darkly funny play into a blistering account of divided loyalties, insatiable greed and a coveted Buffalo nickel. Considered a classic of the American canon and recognised as one of Mamet's masterpieces, American Buffalo premiered at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, and opened on Broadway on February 16, 1977. This edition of the play was published to coincide with the West End revival in 2015, starring Damian Lewis, John Goodman and Tom Sturridge.