Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...in McCaskill's hands, Teach is a construct that rarely appears in real life without the help of serious amounts of cocaine, caffeine or crystal meth — so high-strung he might as well be shouting from the ceiling. The performance has its entertaining moments, even if it does goes over the edge once too often."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Raven Theatre delivers a bracing revival of David Mamet's play about three petty crooks planning a heist. It includes virtuosic performances from Richard Cotovsky, Brian McCaskill and Seth Remington whose pitch-perfect timing make this American classic worth seeing."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Mamet makes the play both an effective character study and a darkly witty indictment of the way American business ethics destroy loyalty and honor. Director Michael Menendian's vigorous staging captures the crackling comedy and explosive violence of this Chicago classic, but actors Brian McCaskill, Richard Cotovsky, and Seth Remington fail to convey the pathos beneath their characters' blustery bravado."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...However weighty its subtext, the production’s pace never gets mired down in high-tragic lugubriousness, but trips along efficiently to clock in at well under two hours. Even the famous resale shop setting—as assembled by Menendian and propmaster Danni Quider and implemented to maximum advantage by David Woolley’s fight choreography, a collage of urban detritus designed to generate chaos and clamor when punched, kicked, slapped or thrown—practically shimmers with its own animating energy."
Chicago Free Press
- Highly Recommended
"...Under director Michael Menendian’s smooth hands, the three co-stars handle the verve and rhythms inherent in Mamet’s language with aplomb. The rest of the brilliant production staff underscore Mamet’s seamy world with an acute eye for detail and mood."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Raven Theatre’s “American Buffalo” is, by all accounts, triumphant in uncovering the raw underbelly of those people on the fringe of society, who have lost all hope in the system, who believe the only way to get their due is through unsavory means. But the triumph is not in pulling off this portrayal but in the convincing of the audience that this immoral activity is completely understandable and, indeed, is sensible. Such is the brilliance of a great playwright teamed with an adroit director."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...In Raven’s American Buffalo, in which three bottom-feeders hatch a plan to steal a valuable coin collection, Menendian the director seems rushed. Cotovsky as Don never fully tunes in, while the strangely cast McCaskill as Teach seems more like a Chicago comic doing a Mamet send-up on SNL than a genuinely Mametian Chicagoan."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...If you are going to mount American Buffalo, you’d best gather three exceptional players all of whom must be fearless actors. Director Michael Menendian has a keen eye for casting and it shows with his selection of Richard Cotovsky as Donny, Seth Remington as Bobby and Brian McCaskill as Teach. Each delivered courageous work as they landed one of the finest threesome seen on any Chicago stage in years!"
