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Photos by Cory Frisco

“The only way to teach these people is to kill them.”

This line, uttered by a distraught, callous, seething and intractable veteran grifter in Theatre Exile’s production of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” perfectly captures the gritty tone of the play. As the final show of the company’s 12th season, it certainly ends it with a punch “” or a smack, a soul-crushing blow, a dream-flattening and a hope-sucking “” that seems as appropriate for our current times (and as difficult to watch) as it was for the mid-1970′s, when the play first opened to critical acclaim amidst disheartening societal upheaval.

The story centers around three men, petty criminals all, conspiring to steal a rare Buffalo Head nickel. The action takes place entirely within the confines of Don’s cluttered pawnshop, where the avuncular older man lords over the detritus of too many worthless lifetimes as he struggles to bestow a little kindness on the young ex-junkie Bob, while being a good friend and scheming partner to the hardened Teach…

This is unmistakably a Mamet play, and his trademark biting dialogue and heavy pauses come thick and fast. The set, designed by Matt Saunders, is wonderfully jumbled, with shelves overflowing with old tins and boxes, and bicycles and chairs hanging overhead “” a little more dust, and you’d be able to smell the rotting American Dream as it’s stomped underfoot. The three actors “” Joe Canuso (Theatre Exile’s Producing Artistic Director) as Don, Robert DaPonte as Bob, and Pete Pryor as Teach “” put in excellent performances. Mr. Pryor is especially fabulous, and at times painful to watch, as he contorts himself, fighting to reconcile inner fears and sensitivity with his exterior of hardened rage, all the while uttering strings of profanity that made the old women in the audience gasp audibly.

Every now and then it’s somehow nice to be reminded that everything is not as it should be; that, in the unconsciously existential words of Teach (with an unavoidable echo of Beckett), “There’s nothing out there.”

“American Buffalo” is not for the faint of heart: see it if you’re up for a dose of reality at its most painful. Just try not to let it get you down.

“American Buffalo” at Theatre Exile
April 9th “” May 3rd

Plays & Players Theatre
1714 Delancey St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 218-4022
www.theatreexile.org