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American Buffalo is a funny play. It doesn't overflow with jokes, but develops sustained humour from the rhythm of the dialogue, a rolling punch line that builds for an hour and a half. It's hard to nail down. Imagine someone who doesn't understand English listening to Lenny Bruce on a riff. They can't get the jokes, yet for some reason they fall over laughing. Delivery, pace, inflection, style carry the humour. And when the comedy dissolves into violence there's no safe emotional ground to retreat to.

The play centres on three small-time crooks. How small? The object of their loopy schemes is a lowly nickel. A rare and valuable nickel -- maybe -- but still just a nickel. These guys are nickel-and-dimers, minus the dimes. But when you're far enough down penny-ante stakes are desperate stuff.

Don (played by Alec Willows) runs a junk shop. Teach (Stephen Dimopoulos) is his thuggish friend, and Bobby (Benjamin Ratner) is a hype who runs errands for Don. Don and Teach are hyper-verbal


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lowlifes, if a bit dimwitted. Teach particularly is one of those people who has difficulty thinking unless he's talking, and an even harder time talking unless he's moving. Dimopoulos and Willows can rarely be caught acting; they inhabit these characters, live in their skins. Mamet's obscene poetry sparks in their mouths like firecrackers. Ratner's slo-mo junkie rhythms are a perfect counterpoint, the syncopating element that keeps the play's dynamics from going stale.

A last happy coincidence is the Station Street theatre itself, located just outside the downscale downtown heart of Vancouver. The junkshop set could open for business and fit in seamlessly with the rest of the neighbourhood. You can even go across the street after the show for a beer with the bikers at the Old American Hotel. Just don't expect them to be as real as the actors on stage.

The American buffalo is an archetypal symbol of profit pu

Some common words found in the essay are:
Yes Mamet, American Buffalo, Lenny Bruce, Station Street, Paul Crepeau, Dimopoulos Willows, Mamet's Don't, Don Teach, American Hotel, Benjamin Ratner, american buffalo, don't expect, unless he's, station street,

Approximate Word count = 670
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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