Kittery's Threshold Stage Company Brings AMERICAN BUFFALO To The New England Seacoast

Is the American Dream really accessible to every strata of our society and does the end always justify the means when striving to achieve it? Kittery's critically acclaimed Threshold Stage Company brings Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Mamet's explosive masterpiece "American Buffalo" to the Star Theatre and brilliantly examines the ethics and morality of business versus those of family and friendship.

Universally acclaimed as one of the best plays of the Twentieth Century, "American Buffalo" revolves around three men plotting a crime of misguided revenge. Don Dubrow, the owner of the junk shop where the action unfurls, believes he has been duped by a customer who recently purchased a buffalo nickel for well under the actual value of the coin. To steal the coin back, he enlists the help of the street savvy grifter Walter "Teach" Cole and Bobby, a young junky who Don has recently taken under his wing. Don and Teach grapple with how the heist should be executed and who should be involved. The subsequent discussions and in-fighting undermine their plot to get the nickel back; devolving into an ever-increasing and humorous spiral of tension, suspicion, anger and violence.

"American Buffalo" is directed by former student and associate of Mamet's, Heather Glenn Wixson. This is not Heather's first foray into the hyper-charged hard-hitting macho world of David Mamet as she directed the Spotlight award-winning production of Mamet's "Glengarry Glenn Ross" at the Rochester Opera House in 2013. Because of her first-hand learned and visceral understanding of Mamet's theatrical philosophy, Heather will offer a perspective and depth to the production of "American Buffalo" that will provide audiences with a very unique and rare theatrical experience. For Heather "The play is an exploration of business versus ethics, loyalty and friendship. It is both funny and tragic, much like life." The entirety of the play takes place in Don Dubrow's junk shop. The junk shop is masterfully conceived in a joint effort by Kelly Gibson and Heather Glenn Wixson. Their shared creative vision results in a set remarkable in detail, scope, depth and authenticity, compellingly inviting the audience into the shop with the players for a truly visceral experience. The action is dynamically crafted by Glenn Wixson and the actors in a truly collaborative process. Glenn Wixson chose not to pre-plan the movement and action, instead deciding that all of the work would be what she and the actors discovered together in the rehearsal room. This very unique approach was made possible by the collective commitment, skill and trust of the cast of top regional professional actors submerging themselves in the process for a much longer pre-production timeline than is the norm. The all-star cast features Allan Mayo as Walter "Teach" Cole, Peter Motson as Don Dubrow and Griffinn Gower as Bobby.

Threshold Stage Company's production of Mamet's incendiary classic brings the volatile dog eat dog world of Mamet's "American Buffalo" vividly to life at the Star Theatre in Kittery, Maine. It is truly a show not to be missed and well worth every "nickel" spent for the price of admission.

Box Office: Ticket cost $25.00 (Tickets available online at kitterycommunitycenter.org/star-theatre or call (207) 439-3800)

Run Time: (2 hours - with one intermission)

Rating: Recommended 17 and up: (For language, suggestive content and some violence)

Photo Credit: Photo 1- From L to R - Allan Mayo, Peter Motson & Griffinn Gower in Threshold Stage Company's Production of "American Buffalo" at the Star Theatre Kittery, Maine - Photos by (Monica Bushor)