The Broadway revival of American Buffalo, performed at the in-the-round Circle in the Square Theatre, will continue to require audience masking through July 10, the production’s closing date.
In a statement released today, producers said, “Due to the close proximity of the audience to the actors as a result of the intimate size of the theater and the staging in the round, the production will continue to mandate audiences to wear masks in this space, despite the recent industry announcement of masking-optional across other Broadway theaters beginning July 1st.”
Earlier this week, the Broadway League, the trade organization representing theater owners and producers, announced that the mandatory audience mask requirement that’s been in place since theaters reopened last fall will be replaced in July with a mask optional plan. The policy will then be reviewed on a month-by-month basis.
American Buffalo is the first production to announce that it would maintain the mask mandate beyond July 1.
With a producing team headed by Jeffrey Richards and starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss, the revival of the David Mamet play, directed by Neil Pepe, began previews on Tuesday, March 22, and opened on Thursday, April 14. The limited engagement will end as planned on July 10, having played 101 regular performances and 27 preview performances.