PLAYS by Pulitzer Prize-winners always carry a weight of expectation. Perhaps this is why David Mamet's American Buffalo at the Gate is delivered in such a straightforward manner, but when the material is this good, it's not really a problem.

The play centres around three downtrodden characters who are planning to burgle a neighbour's house. Sean McGinley plays Donny, the jaded junk-shop owner and Domhnall Gleeson, the hapless boy-man Bob. But Aidan Gillen runs away with the best part, the tightly wound Teach, with his anger-management problems and defensive behaviour.

Each one of his lines is delivered with a short-step gallop towards the person he is addressing, an accusatory poke of the finger or a pinch of the bridge of the nose.

nothing actually happens) and more about the language. Mamet lets the dialogue - so entertaining in itself - reveal what he wants to about his themes of business and friendship and what happens when you mix the two. "Business is taking care of yourself, " says Teach, revealing the self-interest at the heart of it and how this conflicts with one of the core values of friendship, selflessness.

Greed figures strongly and is subtly woven through the play.

When Donny is talking about the buffalo coin that he sold to a collector for $90, he becomes suddenly ugly, complaining about having not pushed the price higher, despite the fact that he originally thought the nickel was worthless.

The set is a fantastic, intricate cornucopia of junk that extends upwards in a seemingly neverending pile. The attention to detail is wonderful. The costumes of worn-out denim and leather depict a down-on-their-luck situation that perfectly complements the characters.

American Buffalo is played quite straight as a comedy, and director Mark Brokaw lets the language reveal the rich social commentary buried deep within the one-liners.

There is a small sense of disappointment when it comes to the second half. Perhaps this comes from the natural sense of anti-climax you get from a play in which the build-up of the action purposely leads nowhere. Despite this, American Buffalo is a deeply affecting play whose overt light and comedic tone only serves to highlight the stark points it ultimately makes.

'American Buffalo' runs until 10 March