![]() ![]() He wants to peel back all of the obscuring layers. To the idealistic neophyte politician, the pettiness, the squabbling, the in-fighting, the crazy secrets are at odds with his perception of “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” He wants transparency. We’re seeing this Council working through his eyes, for the most part, as he seeks to unravel the mystery of Carp and the Missing Minutes, and a lot of what we see for most of the play just doesn’t make sense. ![]() Hanratty tries but fails to pass an expensive fountain rebuild to benefit the disabled…like his sister…because he thinks the town needs it. Matz is a ditz who lives in her own head, Oldfield is there almost by force of habit by this time and Innes has a single agenda that consumes her, but all three live and die for the Heritage Festival. Breeding, who clearly lacks any, is smarmy and crude and off-putting, precisely the kinds of qualities that would leave a person friendless if he didn’t go along with the majority all the time, but he seems sincere at least in his desire to maintain the town’s budget. Breeding and Blake go along with the general flow of things, and one can only speculate why as Letts doesn’t let on, but here’s a thought: Blake is black (Letts’ naming in this play is, if nothing else, playful) in a town that clearly has mostly white people in it and was founded in a battle that wiped out a minority, and his ideas (if the Lincoln Smackdown is representative) don’t go over well with the majority, so he goes along because he desires to fit in a town where that fit may be tenuous. And Superba clearly enjoys the power of his office, but he’s not exactly in the Gang of Eight. Sure, Assalone has his little bicycle scam, but he’s not getting rich from it. That is why they are on the Council to begin with. The Council’s Names and The Town As Extended FamilyĪs easy as it is to spend time discussing the individual quirks and characteristics of the Council members, they all, from Oldfield all the way to Peel, share at least one thing in common: they want what is best, in their opinions, for Big Cherry. It must be said that there are several themes at work in this play I will try to touch upon some of the major ones. Letts himself may have other notions and that is fine. Others may fixate on different aspects and that is fine. And that is what I am doing here: making my own meaning out of what I witnessed at Steppenwolf Theatre so that this play does not haunt me. I don’t say “understand it fully,” as I am certain that even a close reading of the text would leave room for interpretation no, I say “understand,” as in make your own meaning from. This play demands discussion and thought it is provocative in the best sense of the word: it provokes the mind to work to consider what it has just witnessed and to find ways to understand it. It is a brilliant play, to be sure, but the ending is so stunning and so powerful, and it so undoes what we thought we understood, that it takes time to process. ![]() When the audience gets to the end of the 100 minutes or so of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes, they pretty much need to stop and take a breath. Warning: Do not read this prior to seeing the play. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |