The Minutes

B-

Tracy Letts’ dark comedy caused quite a stir when it premiered at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago in November 2017. Its Broadway production was abruptly closed down by the pandemic during previews in March 2020. After four and a half years of keen anticipation, I fear that I set myself up for inevitable disappointment. While there is much that I admired – the fine ensemble cast of 11, the wonderful set by David Zinn and Anna D. Shapiro’s assured direction, there is also much that I disliked – the banter early in the play that is often as annoying as it is amusing and the abrupt shifts of tone from satirical to didactic to horrific. The action takes place over the course of a council meeting in the small Midwestern town of Big Cherry. The central role of Mr. Peel, the pediatric dentist recently arrived from the coast who was recently elected to the town council is played by Noah Reid in a noteworthy Broadway debut. (Armie Hammer, who played the role in the 2020 previews, could hardly continue as the good guy after multiple accusations of sexual abuse.) Mayor Superba is superbly played by Letts himself, appearing for the first time in one of his own plays. The council’s two old-timers are ably portrayed by Blair Brown and Austin Pendleton. Jeff Still plays the ethically challenged Mr. Assalone, whose name is constantly mispronounced by the efficient town clerk, Ms. Johnson, smoothly portrayed by Jessie Mueller. Cliff Chamberlain nails the role of Mr. Breeding, who acts as if he has none. Danny McCarthy is fine as the well-meaning but ineffective Mr. Hanratty. Ian Barford plays Mr. Carp, whose debunking of the town’s founding myth upsets the status quo. Two roles that I thought were underwritten were Mr. Blake (played by K. Todd Freeman), an African-American with an offbeat suggestion for the town’s annual festival, and Ms. Matz (played by Sally Murphy), whose ditzy behavior seems pointless and unrelated to the action. The trouble begins when Mr. Peel asks for the minutes of the previous meeting which he missed to attend his mother’s funeral. They are somehow not ready for distribution. He is also unsuccessful in getting an explanation for Mr. Carp’s sudden disappearance from the council. To say more might spoil your experience of the play. I would like to comment though that I think those who have tried to associate the play with Trumpism are misguided. The underlying behavior existed long before Trump and will no doubt be with us long after he is gone. Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission.