'Dog Day Afternoon' Broadway review — Jon Bernthal makes off with the spotlight
Read our review of Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway, starring The Bear's Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach and adapted by Stephen Adly Guirgis from the 1975 film.
Summary
- Dog Day Afternoon is adapted from a true story and the subsequent film about a bank robbery gone wildly wrong
- The Bear's Jon Bernthal gives a strong lead performance in the role originated on screen by Al Pacino
- The show is recommended for fans of Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach on The Bear; of true crime; and of the Dog Day Afternoon movie the play is based on
Dog Day Afternoon, a new Broadway play about an infamous New York City true crime, is capped by a brief and striking coda, as though in a final flicker of bright inspiration. In it, a would-be bank robber envisions the future, what everything that’s come before is all about. The scene is hazily lit, yet vividly theatrical and emotional. It’s the one moment when the show transcends its sources. Elsewhere, as written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and directed by Rupert Goold, the show howls for more of that.
In the summer of 1972 — with tensions of war, Watergate, and the Attica prison uprising roiling in a way that echoes today’s fractious climate — down-and-out Sonny (Jon Bernthal) enlists his sad-sack pal Sal (Ebon Moss-Bacharach) to rob a Brooklyn bank. The botched theft becomes a hostage situation, while a mob of cops, FBI agents, media, and onlookers gather on the street. Through the media, Sonny becomes an unlikely sensation — a vital plot point muted on stage — even as his unconventional motives complicate public perception.
Told over two-plus hours with an intermission, the dramatization is based on the Al Pacino-led, Oscar-winning 1975 movie, itself drawn from a Life magazine article titled “The Boys in the Bank.” Director Sidney Lumet’s film managed to balance off-kilter humor and idiosyncratic humanity, but between Guirgis’s script and Goold’s staging, the play misses that mark, and the tone is out of key. It leans too insistently into farce, effectively self-sabotaging and undercutting life-and-death stakes. This story is ripe for get-real, overlapping dialogue. Instead, at times, lines are delivered sitcom-style, as if pausing for a laugh from the audience.
The bulk of the show unfolds inside the Chase Manhattan branch where employees sweat it out as Sonny clumsily negotiates an escape. Other characters communicate with Sonny through phone calls: a compassionate Detective Fucco (John Ortiz), whose surname is a running pronunciation joke; stony FBI agent Sheldon (Spencer Garrett); and Sonny's true love, Leon (Esteban Andres Cruz). Goold seeks to use the August Wilson Theatre audience to represent the assembled crowd; the strategy is only as successful as the viewers are enthusiastic to play their part.
Bernthal ably anchors the production. With just a slight trace of Pacino’s cadence and voice, he’s alternately intense and likable. Moss-Bachrach is convincing as a depressed loose cannon. Jessica Hecht, per usual, lends fine support as head teller Colleen, who, in a twist to an iconic scene from the movie, instructs Sonny to scream “Attica!”
Movies turned into plays, as opposed to musicals, are a bit uncommon, but the impulse to reboot Dog Day Afternoon for the stage is easy enough to understand. Guirgis has made a name and won a Pulitzer Prize (for Between Riverside and Crazy) for writing New York City characters as colorful as they are complex. The themes of identity, power, societal unrest, and desperation are fertile ones to explore. But, in the end, the play is a letdown. Dog Day Afternoon rolls over when it should bite.
Dog Day Afternoon summary
Dog Day Afternoon dramatizes a bungled bank robbery in Brooklyn that was first chronicled in Life magazine in 1972. The article was the basis for 1975 Oscar-winning film Dog Day Afternoon, in which the names of the actual people involved were changed.
The production at the August Wilson Theatre marks the play’s world premiere as well as the Broadway debuts of Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, both Emmy Award winners for The Bear.
What to expect at Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon recalls a particular time and place: Brooklyn, August 22, 1972. The production spells that out twice, in a neon sign on stage as well as in the program. It wasn’t just another manic Tuesday when the bizarre but true events were set in motion. Scenic designer David Korins’s evocative and impressively detailed set does plenty of its own spinning, rotating regularly to capture moments inside and outside the bank.
What audiences are saying about Dog Day Afternoon
On Show-Score, a review-aggregating site, the play has earned a score of 87%, with many theatregoers discussing the adaptation, acting, and design.
- “It’s a brilliant adaptation of a very unbelievable story that touches on the human issues that still exist today – socioeconomic issues, homophobia, and depression from social rejection, love, fear, loneliness.” Show-Score user Katy P
- “Wow, from the moment the lights go down the set turns you’re immediately in the vestibule of a bank. The big set makes you feel like you’re right in the middle of it all. The acting was amazing [....]” Show-Score user Liz R
- “70s nostalgia at its best. Stellar acting coupled with a time warp of a set alongside an excellent score.” Show-Score user Christina H
- “Full of heart and humor. Bernthal owned the stage and the supporting cast was phenomenal.” Show-Score user
- “An impactful story about the bounds of love and desperation and the human condition.” Show-Score user Lisa T
- “Great set design and costumes but trope laden writing bordering on offensive.” - Show-Score user Verified A
Read more audience reviews of Dog Day Afternoon on Show-Score.
Who should see Dog Day Afternoon
- Fans of the movie will want to see how the story, ripped from the headlines of the early 1970s, translates to the stage and transcends time.
- The Bear fans who appreciate Bernthal and Moss-Bachrach’s performances on the series won’t want to miss them cooking in their Broadway debuts.
- Fans of Guirgis’s New York City urban portraits in his previous plays, like Best Play Tony Award nominees The Motherfucker with the Hat and Between Riverside and Crazy, will want to check out his third work on Broadway.
Learn more about Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway
Despite being hounded by tonal and narrative issues, Bernthal’s fine star turn makes Dog Day Afternoon worthwhile.
Photo credit: Dog Day Afternoon on Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
Frequently asked questions
What is Dog Day Afternoon about?
Dog Day Afternoon is a fast-paced play based on the real-life bank robbery that caused a news sensation in the 1970s.
Where is Dog Day Afternoon playing?
Dog Day Afternoon is playing at August Wilson Theatre. The theatre is located at 245 West 52nd Street, New York, 10019.
How long is Dog Day Afternoon?
The running time of Dog Day Afternoon is 2hr 15min. Incl. 1 intermission.
How do you book tickets for Dog Day Afternoon?
Book tickets for Dog Day Afternoon on New York Theatre Guide.
What's the age requirement for Dog Day Afternoon?
The recommended age for Dog Day Afternoon is Ages 16+..
Who wrote Dog Day Afternoon?
Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis writes this play based on true events.
Who directs Dog Day Afternoon?
Rupert Goold (King Charles III), who has won an Olivier Award, directs.
Is Dog Day Afternoon appropriate for kids?
The play concerns a heist and has strong language; children must be four and older to enter Broadway venues.
Is Dog Day Afternoon good?
With screen stars Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach in the cast, in a tried-and-true story that became the basis for an Oscar-winning film, this is sure to be a major theatrical event of the season.
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