“The Minutes” At SDT is Chilling, Timely, Darkly Comic Look at Politics, Authority, and the Meaning of History

The Minutes
by Tracy Letts
Directed by Justin Been
Stray Dog Theatre
October 1, 2025

Tracy Letts’s The Minutes is a dark comedy that gets darker minute by minute. The Pulitzer-nominated show is an incisive, even brutal critique of small-town American politics that has a lot to say for today’s audiences, especially concerning the concepts of history, tradition, and the pressure to tow the “official” line. At Stray Dog Theatre, this play has been brought to the stage under the direction of Justin Been, featuring a fantastic cast and pacing that works to tell the story in an unrelenting and riveting fashion.

The “world” of this play is fully realized onstage at SDT’s Tower Grove Abbey through means of Been’s painstakingly realistic set, bringing a small-town council chamber to life with meticulous detail. At first, I’m reminded a bit of the modern classic sitcom Parks and Recreation, which also lampoons the minutiae and particularity of small town politics, but Letts’s take in this play is a lot darker, and even–dare I say–meaner. It starts out as something familiar, and anyone who has been in a council or board meeting of any kind will find some issues with which to relate, but there’s more going on here at a City Council meeting for the town of Big Cherry. The people are familiar “types”, as well, and a degree of secrecy from the start, but the evasiveness of these seemingly harmless bureaucrats has a deeper, much more unsettling purpose that unfolds as the story plays out. I don’t want to spoil much, but I will say that it’s especially timely considering a lot of events and discussions going on in our country right now, especially considering the purpose of history, and who gets to decide what the “official story” is.

The story follows newest council member Mr. Peel (Nick Freed) as he arrives for his first meeting as a member, having missed the previous week’s meeting due to a death in the family. As Peel shows up on a stormy night in Big Cherry and the rest of the council members begin to assemble along with clerk Ms. Johnson (Rachel Hanks), Peel is made aware early on that things aren’t as he expected. Most notably, one council member that Peel seems to have been already acquainted with, Mr. Carp (Stephen Peirick), is missing, and Peel is soon told that Carp is no longer a member of the council. It’s also made relatively clear that there was a disagreement of some sort at the prior meeting, although Mayor Superba (Gerry Love) and the rest of the board are insistently evasive about what happened, even going so far as to seemingly suppress the minutes from that meeting, saying they’re not “ready” to be reviewed yet. The meeting then progresses with various topics and arguments over issues of an accessible fountain in a prominent park championed by Mr. Hanratty (Patrick Canute), Mr. Blake’s (Tawaine Noah) insistence on promoting his unconventional crowd-drawing idea for the upcoming (and revered) Big Cherry Heritage Festival. There’s also an ongoing issue of what do with some confiscated bicycles–an issue that was apparently important to Mr. Carp, as well as the evasive and increasingly aggressive Mr. Assalone (Jonathan Hey), who had apparently clashed with Carp. 

Gradually, the issue of the previous meeting keeps being brought up, as does the town’s devotion to its celebrated Heritage Festival and the folkloric story behind it, involving a locally famous 18th Century “battle”, a seemingly heroic Army sergeant, and a clash with a local Native American tribe. As the meeting goes on, the issues get more and more personal and the truth of the previous meeting is finally revealed, uncovering issues that challenge the very soul of the town and the council members, and their vision of the past and how that shapes their goals for the town and hopes for the future. It also presents a dilemma for Peel, who is essentially the stand-in for the audience. 

The script is at turns humorous, witty, sharp, challenging, and has occasional forays into sheer horror, especially at the end, in a change of tone that, while effective, strikes me as a bit “too much”, to the point of potentially distracting from the point the show is trying to make. Still, it’s all acted and staged remarkably well, with riveting performances from all involved, especially standouts Freed as initially idealistic newbie Peel, Peirick as  the passionate, insistent Carp, Hey as the increasingly shady Assalone, Love as the initially affable but somewhat cryptic Mayor, and Hanks as Ms. Johnson, whose sing-song voice and insistently upbeat tone seems to battle with an also obvious sense of resignation. There are also strong performances from the rest of the ensemble, including the aforementioned Reidy, Canute, and Noah, along with Jan Niehoff as the forgetful Ms. Matz, Will Shaw as the board’s senior Member, Mr. Oldfield, and Lavonne Byers as the second most-senior member, Ms. Innes. The interplay and energy between the performers lends a lot to the sense of tension, along with with the humor, drama, and unfolding suspense. 

The excellent set also works as something of a character in the show, aided by fantastically tuned lighting and sound effects by Tyler Duenow and Been, respectively. There’s also a chillingly effective use of music to underscore the action. Colleen Michelson’s costumes are also memorable, crafted with detail to fit the personalities and quirks of the individual characters while also fitting in with the overall “small town” vibe. 

The message of The Minutes is profound and important while also being surprisingly of-the-moment. Small-town politics as well as overall attitudes toward authority and the meaning of history and controlling narratives, are all effectively brought up here in an increasingly brutal satirical manner. There’s a lot to think and talk about here, and SDT has brought this story to the stage with energy, emotion, and theatrical expertise. 

Stray Dog Theatre is presenting The Minutes at Tower Grove Abbey until October 18, 2025