Friedkin was among a crop of influential young "New Hollywood" directors in the 1970s who fundamentally reshaped the US film industry, upsetting a long-established system in which powerful studio producers had reigned supreme.
KEARNEY — Jason Alexander wanted to send his son, Dashiell Alexander, off to college with a unique experience.
“This production came about as a way to do a small show,” Jason said. “It came about because my son and I have been wanting to work together for years. We have both done local theater here in town with Kearney Community Theatre and Crane River Theater, but we’ve never been in a show together. Before he heads off to college, we thought we would give it one shot.”
That shot is a production of David Mamet’s award winning play “American Buffalo.” The production includes both father, as director/cast member, and son as a cast member.
The show opens today at 7:30 p.m. and continues through Sunday at The World Theatre. Tickets are $25.
Bryce Jensen rounds out the cast in the role of Don, the owner of the junk shop where the story is set.
People are also reading…
Jason describes the play as “three gentlemen in search of the American dream.” That dream involves burglary, assault and deception by petty individuals, all in the style of Mamet, a playwright known for his terse and often vulgar dialogue. Jason notes that the play is not suitable for children.
“Dash will be going to Emerson College in Boston, where he will study film,” Jason said. “He leaves at the end of the month. I know all parents go through this.”
The story takes place in a junk shop run by Don. He suspects a customer has ripped him off in a deal with antique coins. Don and his gofer, Bob, plan to steal a buffalo nickel from the customer. Teach, played by Jason, tries to convince Don that Bob is too untrustworthy to pull off the job.
Jason talked about the set.
“While the show only takes place in one room, that room is filled to the brim with junk,” he said.
As a cast member and director, Jason acknowledges the challenge.
“Not having the critical eye for watching makes it difficult,” he said of his role as director. “This is a show where everybody is on stage for the entire time. Bryce, as Don, never leaves the stage except during intermission. Once I come in, I only leave at the end of each act. Everybody is on stage the whole time. It does present a challenge to direct and be in the show in such a large role.”
The cast members all contributed ideas and suggestions for the staging.
“We all worked together as a really good team to help each other out to get a feel for the show — and that critical eye of watching as much as we could,” Jason said.
As for producing a play by Mamet, Jason understands that the language plays a fundamental role — but in a curious way.
“It’s about not getting too tangled up in the words,” he said. “Mamet is all about the rhythm of the dialogue. If you can find your rhythm in it, it frees you up. Mamet is almost Shakespearean in his style. He is very much ‘of the time’ when he wrote this play. The language reflects that as well. There is a lot of volatile language in this.”
For some patrons, the vulgar and coarse language might be offensive.
“But I really think if you can get past that, the characterizations are very compelling,” Jason said. “The story line is very simplistic but, again, very compelling. Mamet writes with such wonderful fervor and language that you feel that these are real people, not just characters.”
The action includes offensive language and violence.
“We don’t want people to bring young children, that’s for sure,” Jason said. “There’s a lot of swearing and a little bit of violence, not much, but enough that it’s not appropriate for younger audiences. We would say no one under the age of 14, for sure.”
While many theater patrons may know about the work of Mamet including his films — “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Redbelt” — Jason believes that patrons need no prior knowledge of the playwright to appreciate this production.
“The characters are recognizable,” Jason said. “They may not be you, but I think, at the very least, someone has an uncle that might be one of these guys. The characters drive this story forward. It’s a very simple little tale and there’s nothing you need to know going into it. Just come in with that openness for a really wonderful evening of a compelling bit of theater.”
