Ninety minutes of a play that detail the utter pompousness, redundancies, calls to “shelve” or postpone important actions, and the ignoring of vital new community comments, are only some of the bureaucratic and provincial rules, regulations, and idiocies of what can constitute the minutes of a city council meeting. Esteemed author Tracy Letts (August: Osage County, Superior Donuts) continually surprises and disorients the playgoer as he shifts writing tone in his phenomenal play The Minutes.
On the intimate Keegan Theatre stage space, the eleven actors all convey distinct personalities that author Letts intends — soon, however, the dry and understated wit and irony of Mr. Letts’ writing peels away at the hypocrisy and pretensions of these characters. The audience soon sees how easily these characters can succumb to compromise, give in to complacency, and even selfishly accept the complete distortion of historical facts.
Under the taut and assured direction of Susan Marie Rhea, the play moves like a coiled snake — seemingly placid at first, and full of the many mundane details that are enough to frustrate the most dogged council member. Soon, however, Letts’ sharp eye and ear for human foibles explodes and infighting and anarchic disarray ensues as the various characters jockey for one-upmanship and power.
Under Ms. Rhea’s brilliant and perceptive direction, I was given a sense of the distinct personalities of the council members, but Ms. Rhea was wise enough to let the sublime “text” of the play do the acting. This theatrical piece is a triumph of ensemble acting and, very luckily, no single actor strains or indicates for effect. Each actor is part of a cohesive whole and each actor quite appropriately delivers their lines with the straightest face and the utmost businesslike demeanor — any comic or dramatic moments arise naturally from Mr. Letts’ glorious lines. The sublime ensemble includes Ray Ficca, Stephen Russell Murray, Timothy H. Lynch, Valerie Adams Rigsbee, Brett Earnest, Barbara Klein, Katie McManus, Michael McGovern, Dominique Gray, Zach Brewster-Geisz, and Theo Hadjimichael.
Like the Keegan Theatre’s superb examination of the audacious and inane probing of the electoral process in the 2022 political comedy The Outsider, this play is a thoughtful play for adults. I have not seen an ensemble and production of this quality at the Keegan Theatre in a long time.
The Keegan Theatre has delivered an extremely cohesive ensemble cast in a meticulous and absorbing production of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes.
