Review Roundup: AMERICAN BUFFALO Opens in the West End

John Goodman and Tom Sturridge join Damian Lewis in the major new revival of David Mamet's gripping 1975 play American Buffalo. Directed by Daniel Evans, American Buffalo will run at Wyndham's Theatre for a strictly limited, opening tonight, 27 April and playing through 27 June 2015.

Mamet's explosive drama examines the fickle nature of honour among thieves. As three small-time crooks, Walter "Teach" Cole (Damian Lewis), Don Dubrow (John Goodman) and Bobby (Tom Sturridge), 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.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph: Lots of the right things are in place, effort has been expended. Yet it hasn't yet translated into something that sets pulses racing, nerves a-quiver...The big USP of any Mamet play, especially this one...is the language...the true, harsh sound of American capitalism. The big danger is that the talk doesn't come from a recognisable, rooted place. And I think that's the issue with the production at the moment. It looks like a Mamet, sounds like a Mamet but a strain of British restraint and rather unmacho gentleness creeps in. Lewis -- the lynchpin of the show -- can't be faulted for accent or technical accomplishment...He's got the faux-confident, gesticulating swagger of Teach down pat -- as well as a counterpoint wariness and vulnerability -- but for all the bravura, his turn lacks animal desperation...The stakes need to be higher too for John Goodman's low-key, hang-dog Don -- as cosy as his cardigan -- and the shaven-headed Sturridge who's so fragile and fazed he seems barely strong enough to hold himself up.

Michael Billington, The Guardian: My only slight cavil about this production is that Mamet's musical rhythms are affected by having one authentic American and two British actors in the cast. Otherwise, Daniel Evans's production is meticulous in its psychological and physical detail. Goodman, best known for his work with the Coen Brothers, is quite brilliant as Don. He has the capacity to convey the character's slow-moving thought-processes so that you actually see his seamed, rugged features flickering with guilt as he rationalises his betrayal of Bob. Throughout the actor conveys the troubled decency of a good man driven to self-betrayal. Teach is the more showy role but Damian Lewis avoids the temptation for flashy, fast-talking virtuosity and instead excellently pins down the man's neediness...More than previous actors I've seen, a shaven-headed Sturridge also reminds us that Bob is a recovering addict who desperately depends on Don for stability and who goes to pieces when that anchoring trust is withdrawn. All three actors are very fine but the great virtue of this production is that it is more than a showpiece for stars and highlights Mamet's ability to write a far-reaching fable about the jungle of American capitalism.

Quentin Letts, The Daily Mail: American Buffalo is early Mamet and plainly owes a lot to Harold Pinter. These three Chicago lowlifes, for all their bragging, are dependent, needy characters...Lewis's timbre and accent worried me at first. Would a hoodlum not have a more tobaccoey rasp, a sharper throatiness? But as the performance plays out...Lewis subtly threads humour into this delusional blow-hard...The veteran Goodman...is a class act: such exhaustion in Don's face at the end, and a touching affection for the troubled lad Bob...Sturridge, here shaven-headed, arguably overdoes Bob's twitchiness by a scintilla but he has a skinny, catlike presence on the stage. Watchable...The pathos, despite Goodman's heroic efforts, never quite grabs my guts. But if Mamet is your thing, you will surely want to catch this bespoke production.

Matt Trueman, Variety: Lewis's Teach is...a one-suit kind of a guy, the sort to stress the importance of dressing the part at all times, strutting but always undermined by his high-pitched horn-voice...What's missing is the coiled intensity of a livewire and without it, there's no sense of underlying danger...Goodman's Don, meanwhile, is a human sigh, a squidgy man in a saggy cardigan...The balance between the two of them is right, but it's at the inert end of the spectrum. It's left to Sturridge to provide the spark. As Bob, he's unhinged and unpredictable, every bit the ex-junkie. Don treats him with real tenderness, though more paternalistic than closeted...Sturridge, somehow, makes him seem like a fledgling bird, featherless and craning upwards to be fed. It's an alarming image, distorted and damaged...Individually, each of these characters is an engrossing portrait, but they don't slot together. Not only that, they're played in entirely differently styles.

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Photo Credit: Johan Persson