“The Minutes” is an unsettling and ultimately devastating indictment of American politics as seen through the eyes of a small-town council meeting.
Northampton Community College Department of Theatre has skillfullly mined the satire written by Tracy Letts, for both the laughs and the unexpected horror in its production through Oct. 27 at Lipkin Theater, Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township.
That this benign seeming collection of barely-paying-attention council members devolves through the play’s swift 90 minutes to a denouement reminiscent of “Lord of the Flies,” leaves audience members shocked and shaken as decorum gives way to tribalism.
Travis Nugent is initially awkward and unsure as Mr. Peel, the newest member of council who missed the previous week’s meeting. However Nugent’s Peel becomes increasingly earnest and tenacious as he starts asking seemingly mundane questions that the rest of the council obviously would rather not answer – why are there no minutes for the previous week, and why is Mr. Carp’s chair conspicuously empty?
Leading the council is Max Wetherhold’s imperious Mayor Superba, whose all-business persona is underlayed with menace and evasion.
All the council members are personalities we’ve seen before.
Daniel VanArsdale is an overeager and zealous Mr. Hanratty who is trying to convince council to redesign the town’s fountain to be handicapped-accessible, while Rasheed Aziz’ dogged and stubborn Mr. Blake argues for a cage match with an Abraham Lincoln impersonator to raise funds for the money-losing annual heritage festival.
Tiah Fontno is the pragmatic and curt clerk Ms. Johnson who reluctantly assists Peel in his search for the truth, and Andrew Maldonado’s Mr. Breeding is overly loud and pushy.
Also brimming with barely-restrained threat is Maximilian Cole as the hot-tempered Mr. Assalone.
Anna Hartman’s Ms. Innes defies the mayor to read a statement suggesting past transgressions on the council while Kayla Rosado’s drugged and distracted Ms. Matz barely registers what is happening.
Jerry Brucker is the world-weary Mr. Oldfield who has been a council member for 39 years and is mainly worried about getting the absent Mr. Carp’s parking spot.
Tensions mount and things even get violent with well done fight choreography by James Dennis.
Brett Oliveira’s set design neatly recreates a generic middle America town hall and leaves a conspicuous empty chair in the middle of the proceedings to remind everyone something is not quite right.
Aidan Weller is earnest as the missing Mr. Carp who shows up in a flashback where the audience learns the truth about the town’s racist beginnings, which have been suppressed.
Oliveira’s production design also provides thunder and flickering brown-outs that nicely punctuate the stormy night.
Claire Freeman’s direction is nuanced and well-paced, and the open-ended finale gives the audience something to think about.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26; and 2 p.m. Oct. 27.
Tickets are $5.
For information, call 484-484-3412, or go to www.ncctix.org/.