![]() It’s the prelude to a closed town council’s meeting. A prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance are recited. This imposing auditorium oozes continuity, respectability and local pride. In the hallway outside this imposing space is a bulletin board with children’s art, while the vast room is festooned with plaques, proclamations, and a World War I-era mural of maidens. Filling the stage at Studio 54 is a coffered arched ceiling with hanging strips of fluorescent lights. Buy tickets for $20-$105 online or by calling 31.Superbly civic, the vast council chamber created by set designer David Zinn reeks of rectitude. The Minutes runs 100 minutes and continues at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. His other plays include August Osage County, Linda Vista, Mary Page Marlowe and Killer Joe. Tracy Letts is an accomplished actor and playwright. But for the sake of political accuracy, it seems to me an error. ![]() Dramatically, that does mean there are no members of the public to deal with in staging. My question for playwright Letts: Why is this (and the previous week’s meeting) a closed city council meeting? Most state open meetings laws would not consider any of the agenda topics to be justification for a closed meeting. ![]() And I was occasionally a member of one of those groups or its subsets. And because it’s much easier to get involved in local matters in a small town, I’ve attended many city council meetings, school board meetings and planning board meetings. None of them were suburbs and none of them had populations over 25,000. Although I’ve been back in my hometown of Chicago for 30-some years, I spent many years in small towns, mostly college towns, in Colorado, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois. I knew before attending that I would find The Minutes interesting. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what Bullard was choreographing or any more about The Minutes itself. (Appropriately, Com Ed is the sponsor of the production.) Dexter Bullard is responsible for the choreography. Brian McDevitt’s lighting design surely included the occasional light dimmings, flashes and lights out as the rainstorm continues outside. I almost thought I was back in DeKalb, Illinois, when I walked into the theater. Johnson, the city clerk, who is quite conscious of her official responsibilities and performs decisively when she finally reads those missing minutes.ĭavid Zinn’s scenic design for the council chambers is perfect. Kevin Anderson, Jeff Still, Sally Murphy and Penny Slusher play other council members. Carp (Ian Barford) finally appears, he reads a story that turns the meeting on its head. Peel (Cliff Chamberlain), who missed the last meeting because of the death of his mother, keeps demanding answers to two questions: Where are the minutes of the last meeting? And what happened to Mr. Blake proposes adding a Lincoln Smackdown feature to the local heritage festival. Hanratty, who flourishes large display boards to illustrate his proposal for a new accessible fountain in Mackie Creek Park. Oldfield, the most senior member of the council, who desperately wants to bring the subject of parking to the agenda. The cast brings some fine Chicago actors to the stage to play the council members. You may scratch your head on the way out-but you’ll have plenty to discuss with your friends after the show. You may think The Minutes presents a microcosm of contemporary issues, such as racism and who gets to tell our story. The council members come in out of a rainstorm to wrestle with local issues and finally, with what their history really means-and what it really is. The playwright, who can be depended upon for complexity, turns a small town city council meeting into a modern morality play. Shapiro has done a superb job of mood- and time-shifting, as well as choreographing an event (a city council meeting?) that could have been deadly boring. During the last 30-40 minutes, the audience was silent. Giggles and guffaws punctuated the action during the Big Cherry City Council meeting. Steppenwolf bills it as a comedy and the opening night audience seemed to agree with that for the first hour of The Minutes. Entertaining, thought-provoking, puzzling, conversation-starting. Viewed totally, it’s an example of theater at its best. It’s a satire of small-town politics, individual grievances and so much more. Steppenwolf Theatre’s world premiere of The Minutes by Tracy Letts takes place during a small town city council meeting.
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