Betrayal and friendship: David Mamet’s American Buffalo

Abstract

American Buffalo is at first glance a simple play about simple men who cannot pull off a simple robbery. The drama unwinds in Don's Resale Shop, located on the South Side of Chicago. The junk shop is littered with odds and ends, many of which are objects from the Great Depression and the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. As the play begins we learn that Don Dubrow has recently sold a coin collector a buffalo-head nickel for $90. Now sensing that this customer not only deceived him but somehow affronted his sense of professional competence, Don sets his sights on stealing back the coin and what he thinks must be the man's valuable coin collection.