In Dog Day Afternoon, playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis has adapted a play from a movie based on an actual event. I knew nothing about the movie except that it starred Al Pacino, and nothing about the play except for its leads, veterans of FX’s popular show, The Bear.

It was obvious from the audience reaction at the August Wilson Theatre that they came to see Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

Bernthal plays Sonny, the mastermind of a Chase Manhattan bank heist. Though he’s rehearsed it with his cohorts, the plan quickly goes awry. Though the bank is closed, Sonny uses his charm and former military experience to convince the bank guard to let him.

One of his team, Ray-Ray (Christopher Sears) is high on drugs and freaks out before the plan can be put in motion. It is quickly obvious that nothing will go well when he opens his guitar case to reveal an actual guitar, not the rifle Sonny expected. Embarrassed and afraid, Ray-Ray bolts before the action really begins.

Sal (Moss-Bachrach), a monosyllabic loner, is anxious to get the job done and pulls out his rifle too soon, sticking it in the bank manager's face. Sonny has worked out that they could rob the bank, get the money and leave all within 71/2 minutes. Things don’t work that way and there are other complications. The situation quickly deteriorates with the bank employees being held hostage. Detective Fucco (a strong John Ortiz) tries to negotiate with Sonny while Sal quietly and dangerously grows impatient.

Directed by Rupert Goold, the first act goes by quickly with unexpected humor, much of it coming from the superb delivery of Jessica Hecht as Colleen, the head teller. Her pacing and Brooklyn accent create a pleasant diversion from the seriousness of the robbery.

Sonny rationalizes the robbery; he needs the money to get his ‘wife’ Leon (Esteban Andres Cruz) a sex change operation. Later when he goes outside to negotiate, he rallies the crowd (and the August Wilson Theatre audience) to chant “Attica,” echoing the chants of the prisoners in a famous protest against poor prison conditions.

Despite the guns and the attempted robbery, Sonny is a smart likeable character, and the tellers don’t even appear frightened.
Bernthal sounds like he’s always on high volume (maybe channeling Pacino.) He works hard and the audience certainly shows its appreciation. Moss-Bachrach, my favorite character in The Bear, is underutilized. His character is a loner, morose and possibly psychologically disturbed. Yet he’s usually looming in the background. Even in the second act when he has more dialogue, he doesn’t make much of an impact.

Guirgis changed the secondary characters’ names and my guess is some of their personalities. Guadalupe (Paola Lazaro) a ’hippie” woman hides in the bathroom and makes friendly overtures to befriend Sal. In a scene that is gratuitous, she sings a song in Spanish using the guitar Ray-Ray left behind. Despite the promise of the first act, the second act drags, especially when Fucco locates Sonny’s wife and coerces her into calling him. That scene with Fucco as well as the one with Sonny go on too long.

The theft drew crowds of people who supported the robbers rather than the police. The 7 minute robbery extended into a long hot August day, attracting media attention. Like the robbery, the play went on longer than it should have. We could have sided or supported the robbers and felt for them. Instead Dog Day Afternoon becomes a tedious production.