Rarely do themes in a play resonate with the impact and immediacy of Tracy Letts’s incisive play. minutes He did it for me the other night. The Keegan Theater’s daring production, directed by Susan Marie Rea, struck a chord with my conscience, albeit with a great deal of help from chance.
A few hours before watching this comedy about a town’s leaders revisiting a town’s checkered past with Native Americans by rewriting history, I happened to visit the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution.
Some of the exhibits there, including one that reduced the American Indian Removal Act to a bold business decision that was “a stunning success in wealth creation” for the nation’s and southern billionaires, left the disturbing impression that history was being whitewashed before our eyes in real time. Especially among the plays by Letts, a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist.
The anger I felt upon leaving that museum was fully validated hours later by the program’s portrayal of leaders erasing or obfuscating facts from history to fit a narrative that presents their heritage in the best light, however false.
A biting satire takes on this timeless anger. minutes Draw the entire image with powerful strokes. Down to the smallest detail, the play is a humorous and skeptical look at some of the characters that pervade American politics, at least at the local level.
For that, let’s (win Pulitzer Prize) August: Osage County), this controversial city council meeting in the town of Big Cherry is filled with characters filled with fascinating personalities, creating a great ensemble to devour. Not all of them are part of this ensemble, and taken as a whole, Ratatata’s pace seems like a work in progress, but the boldness and commitment are 100 percent present.
The actors are primed for success in a vast wood-panelled chamber by scenic designer Josh Sticklin. This chamber immediately lets us know what is to come, hinting at the showdown and meltdown we will witness.
The Big Cherry City Council, chaired by the arrogant Mayor Superba (Ray Ficca), calls this closed-door meeting to discuss the upcoming Heritage Festival and several other issues. It’s pouring rain outside, but if there wasn’t one troublesome member, the meeting might have gone off without a hitch.
Mr. Peel (Stephen Russell Murray), a new dentist and recently elected city councilor, arrives eager to jump into his new role as a public servant. But he soon got sidetracked and missed out on what happened at the previous meeting that led to Congressman Karp’s sudden absence or dismissal.
The deeper Peel’s investigation deepens, the more vague the mystery becomes, compounded by the suspicious fact that the minutes of the previous meeting are missing. Peele is told that there has been a delay for some procedural reason, but the city council clerk, Ms. Johnson (Valerie Adams Rigsby), seems too competent to let that happen. Something more sinister may be afoot.
Perhaps the most likable of this motley cast of characters is Mr. Peele, played by Murray, projecting an important sense of common sense along with a zeal for fact-checking that drives the plot.
Hinting at the depths of selfishness behind the dentist’s good sense, Murray nimbly bounces the unassuming newcomer off the larger characters in the room, including the perpetually grumpy Mr. Oldfield (Timothy H. Lynch), the pompous politician Ms. Innes (Barbara Klein), and the mute Mr. Blake (Dominic Gray).
A few other performances stay on the same note, but they don’t disrupt the overall sound. The jokes may not be all that funny, but that doesn’t detract from the trajectory of this fascinating mystery.
Director Rea’s production is prompted by deft directorial touches, including a deft transition to the previous council meeting with Mr. Karp (Michael McGovern), which both tap into the play’s potential and issue a stark warning to remain vigilant about how and by whom the minutes of history are recorded.
Minutes (★★★★☆) runs through May 3 at the Keegan Theater, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets range from $44 to $55, with discounts available for students, seniors 62 and older, and patrons under 25. Rush tickets are available at the door starting one hour before showtime. visit keegantheater.com.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
