Review: THE MINUTES at Stray Cat Theatre
The production runs through October 12th at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
Guest Contributor David Appleford’s thumbs-up review of Stray Cat Theatre’s production of THE MINUTES.
As presented by Stray Cat Theatre as its 23rd season opener, THE MINUTES, a blistering satire of small-town city council meetings, begins as one thing and concludes as something completely different. And no matter what clues or giveaways you think you might have picked up on throughout the play, you won't be prepared for the emotional wallop that will eventually come. And you may not fully recover from its uncomfortable implications, either.
Running now until October 12 at the Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, THE MINUTES, written by Tracy Letts – who also played the mayor during the play's initial Broadway run – runs for 100 minutes, no intermission, and plays out in real-time.
The small, middle-American town is called Big Cherry with a history that dates back to 1872. Each week at the town hall, the local city council members – there are ten of them, plus the mayor (Ron May) – gather and, after prayers and a pledge of allegiance to the large American flag pinned to the wall directly behind the mayor’s chair, recap what happened at the previous week’s meeting. Except this week there’s a problem. Last week’s minutes are missing. Plus, one of the long-standing city council members, Mr. Carp, is curiously absent.
“Did I miss anything last week?” asks the newest member to the council, Mr. Peel (Tony Latham). “I heard some of the fellows in the parking lot talking about Mr. Carp.” With what sounds like an intentionally vague response, Ms. Johnson (Kate Haas) cheerfully replies, “I’m sure you’ll learn what you need to know.”
Mr. Peel, a present-day version of a character James Stewart might have played in a 40’s Frank Capra movie, was absent from the last meeting due to a death in the family. Returning to business after a ten-day break, the young man – the newbie on the council – is at first concerned that no one seems to want to talk about what happened last week, nor are they interested in talking about Mr. Carp. When the young Mr. Peel approaches another council member, Mr. Blake (Tanner J. Conley), the only black council member on an otherwise all-white committee, and asks him what he knows of last week’s meeting and the absence of Mr. Carp, the man responds, “I’m not sure it’s my responsibility.”
The characters who gather each week at the council meeting are a mixed bag of small-town types, each with well-defined though often broadly comical characteristics, and some with curiously odd names. Stray Cat Theatre’s founding artistic director, Ron May in a rare and genuinely imposing presence, plays Mayor Superba, an initially friendly enough character who, as the meeting develops, never hesitates to block any discussion regarding last week's minutes with a firm hand.
Then there’s the possibly corrupt Mr. Assalone (pronounced, he repeatedly insists, as ass-alone-ee) played by Rob Stuart, brother of the local sheriff; there’s the elderly Mr. Oldfield (David Weiss), the oldest and amusingly the most confused serving member of the council; Mr. Blake (Tanner J. Conley) who believes that the oncoming local Big Cherry town festival would benefit from a martial arts actor dressed as Abraham Lincoln; Ms. Innes (Katie McFadzen) the pompous and verbose grande dame of the council with important things to say; Ms Matz (a very funny Michelle Luz) a nervous, pill-taking ninny who never seems to be quite with it; Ms. Johnson (Kate Haas) an efficient city clerk and taker of the minutes who exhibits pride in her professional abilities; Mr. Hanratty (Tim Shawver) a man who dreams of an over-priced, handicapped-accessible fountain and monument for the town, particularly for his sister who is disabled; and the insensitive and bullying Mr. Breeding (Johnny Kalita) who doesn’t understand the need for an access to the monument for the disabled, stating, “I don’t know that normal people should have to suffer an onerous tax burden just so your sister can wheel up to a fountain.”
As the play progresses and the city council continues its seemingly mundane business of discussing the issue of some missing bikes and whatever else is included on this week’s council agenda, the mystery of last week’s minutes and the truth behind the absence of Mr. Carp (CJ Mascarelli, seen in a shocking flashback) is slowly revealed, and it’s a punch to the gut. More importantly, what the young Mr. Peele discovers and how he eventually reacts to it has very little to do with the truth or how past events are perceived, but everything to do with survival, maintaining power, and what delusions we are willing to embrace in order to preserve a way of life.
It wasn't until 2012 that the lost remains of England's King Richard lll were discovered beneath an English parking lot. While he was alive, the commissioned royal recorder of the time wrote in the history books of the king's greatness, his ability to govern, and how well he was liked. Then, after his death at the hands of Henry Tudor, the same history books were rewritten at the order of the new leaders. King Richard's reputation was suddenly altered to reflect a murderous, villainous king with a twisted body who needed to be removed, written ironically by the same commissioned royal recorder who had previously praised the man. The spoils of war are not the only possession of the victors. So, too, are the history books and the ability to bury the truth, and whatever tragedy needs to be dismissed. As one of the council members states to Mr. Peele, "A hundred years from now, will anyone care?”
Directed with a firm grasp of pacing, Louis Farber works with an ideal cast of experienced, local talent that is a pleasure to watch. Tiana Torrilhon-Wood's scenic design of a small town city hall's interior where the council members gather before the flag is uncomplicated and perfectly effective, while Stacey Walston's lighting design supported by Brianna Fallon's sound creates the illusion of a storm brewing outside, one that's causing the lights in the hall to flicker while prompting the feeling that at any moment if the lights go out again, something bad is about to befall the proceedings.
And, yes, even though the first draft of writer Tracy Letts's script was almost completed before Trump's 2016 victory, he was never writing about Trump. The former president's name is never even mentioned. Yet, the theme of alternate facts, blazing lies, and the distortion of what is and what should never be known, controlled solely by the winners, makes Stray Cat Theatre’s production of THE MINUTES a powerfully sobering indictment of what we’re willing to ignore and what we’re willing to embrace in order to make our lives as comfortable for ourselves as possible.
THE MINUTES runs through October 12th at:
The Tempe Center for the Arts ~ https://www.tempecenterforthearts.com/ ~ 833-ATC-SEAT ~ 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, AZ
Stray Cat Theatre ~ https://straycattheatre.org
Graphic credit to Stray Cat Theatre
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