‘The Minutes’: When a town sanitizes its history

‘THE MINUTES’: (center) Noah Reid & (left to right) Jesse Mueller, Jeff Still, Tracy Letts & Cliff Chamberlain. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

THE MINUTES
Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by Anna D. Shapiro
Through July 24, 2022
Studio 54
254 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212-239-6200), www.TheMinutesBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Our Town gone awry.

Tracy Letts is a timely and a wonderful playwright but also a theatrical provocateur. Not that these can’t go hand in hand; just look at the likes of Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee. His ideas and the way they unfold are brilliant but they can go too far in the end. The adage that “less is more” certainly applies to Mr. Letts. At times, he needs a strong director to smooth out the extreme rough edges. Mr. Williams had Elia Kazan, Mr. Albee had Alan Schneider, and Mr. Letts needs a stronger director who doesn’t just rubber stamp what he writes in a script.

At a city council meeting room in Big Cherry (any town west of New York City and east of LA) USA, a meeting is about to convene. Brian Peel (Noah Reid of Schitt’s Creek fame) has just returned from his mother’s funeral in California, and being offered condolences from Mayor Superba (Tracy Letts) along with the rest of the council members. Peel wants to know about the minutes that took place the week before while he was out and the missing member Mr. Carp (Ian Barford). Starting with the council secretary, Ms. Johnson (Jesse Mueller) to senior members Ms. Innes (Blair Brown) and Mr. Oldfield (Austin Pendleton) to junior members Mr. Blake (K. Todd Freeman), Mr. Hanratty (Danny McCarthy) and Mr. Assalone (Jeff Still) all give him small talk, runarounds and exchange pleasantries but no one will give him a straight answer about the “unwritten yet” minutes or the whereabouts of Mr. Carp and why he is not at the meeting.

The play goes into high gear (often hilarious) once each councilman starts talking about grievances and the bill they want to pass. The mayhem probably takes place at any council meeting, but this one goes even further by re-enacting for Mr. Peel the heroism that took place in bringing the existence of their town Big Cherry to life replete with American soldiers, Native American Indians, and the Farmers Family.

Once the digging goes beneath the surface, it uncovers America’s soul and the sanitizing of history that has and is currently taking place, in places like Florida, Oklahoma or in any town, state or school that represses history. Mr. Letts has written a chilling play that is profound and mirrors the “good” folks and mayors in small-town America today.

As always, Mr. Letts has written meaty roles for an excellent ensemble cast whose names I’ve listed earlier. Each has a unique role: Mr. Letts’ mayor is a shark with a no-nonsense attitude. Noah Reid, making his Broadway debut, is perfect as the idealistic councilman (he may remind one of James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). Austin Pendleton as the oldest grousing councilman is a scream. Ian Barford, Blair Brown, K. Todd Freeman, Danny McCarthy, Jesse Mueller, and Jeff Still all lend their talents to elevate this ensemble.

There is a “but” here, and the but is how Mr. Letts chooses to end his plays. There were a couple of possibilities of ending this play satisfactorily without outrageous theatrics involved. This is where director Anna D. Shapiro should have stepped in to polish these rough edges with some fine-tuned editing and still made it a remarkable evening in the theatre. Just as he did in his epic work August: Osage County, Mr. Letts has a lot to say about the uncomfortable taboo topics in everyday American life.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 21, 2022
Reviewed at April 20, 2022 press performance.

‘THE MINUTES’: Jesse Mueller & Noah Reid. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE MINUTES’: Tracy Letts & Noah Reid. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.