Tracy Letts’ new play proves the definition of a “slow burn.” Most of the running time in The Minutes is concerned with the minutia of a city council meeting in the nondescript town of Red Cherry, located somewhere in the Midwest. Before the meeting officially begins, the eleven members make small talk, some of it about the recent death of the mother of one of its newest members, Mr. Peel (Noah Reid, Schitt’s Creek), which caused him to miss the last one. As it commences, they proceed to debate such topics as building a new accessible fountain in the town square and the proper disposal of dozens of bicycles recovered by the police. Mr. Peel seems mostly concerned that the minutes of the last meeting, during which one of the members, Mr. Carp, was unceremoniously removed from the council, are not available.
Doesn’t exactly sound riveting, right? Sure, there are amusing moments along the way, many of them provided by the ramblings of the longest-serving council member, the aptly named Mr. Oldfield (stage and screen veteran Austin Pendleton, hilariously stealing the show). There’s also the nonsensical proposal of Mr. Blake (K. Todd Freeman), the council’s sole African-American, for the town to create a “Lincoln Smackdown” in which a mixed-martial artist dressed as Honest Abe would take on all comers in a steel cage match.
But the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright has more weighty things on his mind, as hinted by the dark and stormy night in which the proceedings take place. The often-heated discussions are frequently interrupted by the sounds of torrential rain and thunder, the lights frequently flickering ominously. He also has a major stylistic surprise up his sleeve; by the 90-minute play’s end, it has become something entirely different.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★☆☆☆ review here.]
Audience mileage will vary on the play which transforms itself from a satirical comedy about small-town bureaucracy to a dark vision of historical revisionism and collective guilt. Lett’s audacious conceit doesn’t fully work in its lengthy build-up and abrupt transition to surrealism. But it’s nonetheless a bracing and fascinating attempt to wrestle with deep moral themes.
Previously seen at Steppenwolf, the play has been superbly staged by Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County), who has assembled a crack ensemble who at times seem almost overqualified for their roles. Letts himself plays the town’s mayor who presides over the meeting with equal measures of gentility and ill-concealed impatience. Jessie Mueller, best known for her acclaimed turns in the musicals Waitress, Carousel and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, assumes the decidedly non-singing role of the meeting’s records-keeper who mutters “my bad” after repeatedly calling out the name of the removed council member (you keep hoping she’ll burst into song). Ian Barford, Cliff Chamberlain, Danny McCarthy, Sally Murphy and Jeff Still, all making vivid impressions, form the rest of the ensemble.
You get a hint at the strangeness to come when, in the middle of the meeting, the members, except for the newcomer Mr. Peel, spontaneously perform an elaborate reenactment of the 1872 “Battle at Mackie Creek,” the victory over bloodthirsty Indians that has defined the town ever since. But, as we eventually learn, that local history, as well as the town’s name, is built on a web of lies.
Letts inserts sly social commentary into the seemingly mundane dialogue, as when Mr. Oldfield, attempting to recall when he first heard of the legendary battle, comments, “Church, I think, or school. I can’t tell the difference.” He also hits the play’s thematic nail on its head when the mayor chillingly declares, “History is a verb.”
The Minutes doesn’t fully live up to its considerable ambitions, and would probably be more effective in a smaller venue than Studio 54, more commonly a home for musicals. But it’s the kind of serious work that provokes passionate debate and will linger in your memory. How often do we see that on Broadway?
The Minutes opened April 17, 2021, at Studio 54 and runs through July 24. Tickets and information: theminutesbroadway.com
