« "American Buffalo" is an interesting character study »

Rating:  3 out of Fordyce (Good)

Some talented students are now performing American Buffalo at the Black Box Theater at Lansing Community College. This David Mamet play takes place in “Don’s Resale Shop,” a secondhand junk store run by Don Dubrow, played by Jasen Carlen. It begins as Don offers pointers and business advice to young Bobby (Andrew Bailiff), establishing a father-son type of relationship.

When Teach (Michael Banghart) arrives the puzzle begins to come together as we learn the business is not all that honest. The characters in this play are well developed by the author and portrayed well by these three young men.

When I interviewed Carlen before the show, he told me how he studied and worked hard to play a man 20 or so years older than he really is. Under the direction of Deborah Keller, and with some grey added to hair, he succeeded. You never once would have believed that in real life he and Bailiff are the same age. Bailiff does a great job as the spoftspoken Bobby, and Banghart is good as his polyester clad character.

I did have a little trouble understanding Teach in a few parts of the show, and the script is a little hard to follow and leaves some blanks on the page as to what is really going on, but that isn’t the fault of the actors, who were excellent. That pushes this play up to a good 3 out of Fordyce. If you missed it this weekend, it plays again February 26 and 27. Call 517-483-1018 for tickets.

And a footnote to this perfromance: I was glad to see a full house at this show. Many of those in the audience were other LCC students and other young actors from the area. What a pleasure to see them encouraging their friends. BRAVO