By Lucy Komisar
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Sal, Jon Bernthal as Sonny, photo Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.
You know that feeling when a play grabs you by the collar, whispers “Attica” in your ear, and then can’t quite figure out how to let you go? That’s the new Broadway stage adaptation of Dog Day Afternoon, written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Rupert Goold. This production—set in the sweltering August of 1972 at a Chase Manhattan bank in Brooklyn—has moments of blistering, street-level brilliance, but too often plays like a sitcom that wandered into a tragedy.
The best thing in this play isn’t the politics, the heist, or even Jon Bernthal’s sweaty intensity. It’s Jessica Hecht as Colleen, the chief teller. Hecht delivers a Brooklyn accent so perfect you can almost smell the egg creams and hot pavement. Colleen is tough, direct, and utterly believable as a woman who has spent years caring for her mother and aunt, never finding love, and now has only one job: protect “her girls.” Every time Hecht is on stage, the play stops drifting and locks into focus.
Wilemina Olivia-Garcia as Lorna, Andrea Syglowski as Alison, Jon Bernthal as Sonny, Elizabeth Canavan as Roxxanna, Paola Lázaro as Guadalupe, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Sal, Michael Kostroff as Butterman, photo Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.
The premise remains the classic one: three guys walk into a bank at closing time. One (Christopher Sears) is flaky and bolts. That leaves Sal (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), an ex-con who looks like he’s preparing for the Alamo with a rifle plus three pistols tucked into his belt, and Sonny (Jon Bernthal, channeling Pacino’s curly-haired desperation). What we eventually learn—and it takes a while—is that Sonny organized this whole mess to pay for gender-affirming surgery for his male lover, Leon. He’s also married with kids. It’s complicated, to say the least.
The script knows its history. When Colleen mentions Attica, the audience cheers. There’s a sharp, recurring argument about the difference between thieves who are people and billionaires who are criminals. A local liquor store owner, Young Nesbit (Michael Shayan), complains that cops routinely pillage his booze. FBI Agent Sheldon (Spencer Garrett), is a right-winger who attacks “liberal egalitarian bullshit society” and wants to go in guns blazing. You’re meant to hate him, and you will.
Jon Bernthal as Sonny, Jessica Hecht as Colleen, photo Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.
And for all the Attica references and Rockefeller-bashing, the problem: the play starts like a bad sitcom. For the first twenty minutes, I thought, This is why I don’t watch television. Sal chews gum and acts “off-kilter.” Sonny shouts. The accents vary wildly (though most aim for Brooklyn). The characters—the secular Jewish manager who became a Quaker for his wife, the teller who had an affair with a married professor—often feel like stereotypes rather than people.
The politics aren’t enough to save the play’s structural issues. The neighborhood cop (John Ortiz’s Detective Fucco) who wants to de-escalate? Seen it. The nasty FBI guy? Seen it. The play wants to be a working-class tragedy, a queer liberation story, a media satire (they lie) and a hostage thriller. That’s a lot of plates to spin, and a few of them smash.
Spencer Garrett as FBI Agent Sheldon, John Ortiz as Detective Fucco, photo Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.
The second act is stronger than the first. The play treats Sonny’s bisexuality and Leon’s identity with humor but real care. Esteban Andres Cruz as Leon is terrific—vulnerable, frayed, a sex worker with mental health struggles who just wants to be seen. When the TV news blurts out “avowed homosexuals” and Sal panics (“I’m not a homosexual!”), Sonny’s quiet correction—“Actually, I am”—lands with weight. A later scene with a member of the Gay Liberation Front gives the evening its most thoughtful political speech.
Esteban Andres Cruz as Leon, photo Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.
Once the hostages get to phones, once Leon is on the line, once the Gay Liberation Front shows up, the play finds its heartbeat. Sonny’s remark about going to Julius’ on a Monday night (wink to those who know it’s a famous gay bar) is a nice touch. Bernthal sweats nobly in Pacino’s shadow. Moss-Bachrach does flaky menace well enough. The highlight is the courage and clarity of Jessica Hecht’s Colleen. She’s the real bank vault here—tough, direct, and worth the price of admission.
The Attica cheer, the Brooklyn accents, and a transgender storyline are handled with care. But the sitcom bones and stereotypes keep it from being the classic it wants to be.
“Dog Day Afternoon.” Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Rupert Goold. Based on Life Magazine article “The Boys in the Bank” by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore and Warner Bros. film “Dog Day Afternoon.” August Wilson Theatre, 245 W 52nd St, NYC. Runtime 2hrs10min. Box Office (888) 959-1878. $45 same day rush tickets. Opened March 30, 2026, closes July 18, 2026.