In a Chicago junk shop, three small-time crooks plot to rob a man of his coin collection, the showpiece of which is a valuable “Buffalo nickel.” These high-minded grifters fancy themselves businessmen pursuing legitimate free enterprise. But Donny, the oafish junk shop owner, Bobby, a young junkie Donny has taken under his wing, and “Teach,” a violently paranoid braggart, are merely pawns caught up in their own game of last-chance, dead-end, empty pipe dreams.

American Buffalo premiered on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City on February 16, 1977. Directed by Ulu Grosbard, the production featured Robert Duvall, Kenneth McMillan and John Savage. The play returned to Broadway three times: A 1983 revival starred Al Pacino, and a 2008 revival starred John Leguizamo. In March 2022, a new production of American Buffalo opened at Circle in the Square Theatre, directed by Neil Pepe and starring Laurence Fishburn, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss.