By Michele Markarian
“The Minutes” – Written by Tracy Letts. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Sound Design by James Cannon. Lighting Design by SeifAllah Salotto-Cristobal. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Bethany Mullins. Presented by The Umbrella Stage Company, 40 Stow Street, Concord, through March 24.
“Democracy’s messy,” says Mayor Superba (Steve Barkhimer) to his newest town council member, the young and eager to assimilate Mr. Peel (Ryan MacPherson). Mr. Peel is new to Big Cherry, having moved there for his wife, who grew up there. He is a “joiner,” signing up for various activities to gain a foothold in the community. His mother recently passed, causing him to miss the last council meeting for her funeral. When he returns, he discovers that Mr. Carp (Jeremiah Kissel), a man he’d been working with on a project, has disappeared, and none of the other council members will tell him what happened. Oddly enough, the minutes for the meeting have disappeared as well. Over the course of the ninety-minute play, we learn not only what happened to Mr. Carp but also the truth behind the town’s infamous battle of Mattie Creek and the hero’s journey that has been drilled into each citizen through the teachings of the church and school.
While this may sound overly serious, this was one of the funniest, well-paced plays I’ve seen in a long time, with a superb cast that embodied small-town politics, struggling with political correctness and failing miserably. There’s Mr. Hanratty (a sincere Scot Colford) who can’t understand why his architectural plans to make a fountain accessible to people with disabilities can’t get approved. There’s Mr. Blake (an affable Damon Singletary) who is frustrated that nobody wants to listen to his plans to mount a “Lincoln Smackdown” entertainment, where people would buy a ticket to wrestle with a sumo wrestler dressed as Abe Lincoln for the town’s Heritage Day. Mr. Oldfield (Ruchard Snee, with impeccable comic timing) pooh-poohs everything while Ms. Innes (Jane Kfoury) laughingly reminisces about her fondness for the freak shows of yore. A buttoned-up Eliza Fichter plays the humorless council clerk, Ms. Johnson, who consistently mispronounces councilman Assalone’s (the somewhat menacing Jason Myatt) name. Rounding out the group are Dan Kelly as the nasty Mr. Breeding and Julie Marie Perkins as the easily distracted and overly medicated Ms. Matz. All spearheaded by the officious Barkhimer, who embodies the smug superiority of the big fish in the little pond.
What begins as a bunch of – what I assumed – were Midwestern folks planning a hokey Heritage Day turns into something far more sinister as the play unfolds. There are signs along the way: the town football team is called the Savages, Ms. Johnson’s cautionary warning to Mr. Peel (“We all live here. I have a little girl, and we live here”), Mr. Peel’s inability to reach Mr. Carp by phone or text, flashes of lightning that periodically leave the council room in momentary darkness. These are “good” people who live in nice houses, drive SUVs, and enjoy what passes for power in a small town. Disrupting the status quo would be uncomfortable in more ways than one. Eat or be eaten. Conquer or be conquered. Oppress or be oppressed. Mr. Peel, like everyone else, wants to live a decent life and thus has choices to make.
Edmiston’s direction keeps the energy moving towards its explosive climax, aided by Seif Allah Salotto-Cristobal’s dramatic lighting and James Cannon’s sound design. Janie E. Howland’s set epitomizes the structure and feel of a community council room. The cast looks very at home in it, so much so that it feels like you’re eavesdropping on something you shouldn’t be. If that’s not a good enough reason to see The Minutes, I don’t know what is. For tickets and information, go to: https://theumbrellaarts.org/production/minutes
