What happened to councilman Mr. Carp? And where are the minutes from last week's meeting? Those are the two most pressing questions eventually asked by wide-eyed maverick newcomer Mr. Peel in the East Coast premiere of the straight from Broadway Pulitzer Prize-nominated dark comedy "The Minutes" by Tracy Letts (August: Osage County, Bug).
When the city council of mid-western small town Big Cherry convene for their November meeting everything appears maudlin and routine; small talk, the pledge of allegiance and a prayer begin the proceedings. As the council sit through some hilariously inappropriate or out of touch proposals from other members including a permanent city entertainment installment —a “Lincoln Smackdown” cage-match allowing haters of Honest Abe to go one-on-one with an impersonator of the 16th President, Mr. Peel begins to make some observations. As the council hastily vote to approve the minutes from the two weeks prior, he begins to question where the minutes are from last week's meeting, something the rest of council clearly has ominously chosen to ignore. After much insistence Mr. Peel gets his way only to find out way more than he could have bargained about what happened to Mr. Carp and the lengths people will go to maintain the status quo. Especially when their town's entire history comes into question.
Consistently hysterical…until it's not…Tracy Letts' "The Minutes" is a dark comedy that grows dimmer and darker as the 90 minute, in-real-time play reaches its very unexpected conclusion. As Variety deftly describes the show, "'The Minutes" is both a political comedy and a wicked, methodically plotted horror show… The play’s razor-sharp edge is all the more cutting for being polished with easy wit, like tickling a captive before releasing the guillotine."
"The Minutes" opens Oct. 4 and runs through Oct. 20th at the Queen Street Playhouse. Tickets are on sale now at footlightplayers.net or by calling the box office 843.722.4487
