“The Minutes" at the Black Box Theatre -- November 6 through 14.
Thursday, November 6, through Sunday, November 15
The Black Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL
Hailed by the Chicago Sun-Times as "astonishing" and "a pitch black comedy about the current state of American politics," Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts' The Minutes enjoys its area debut with a November 6 through 14 run at Moline's Black Box Theatre, the Chicago Tribune adding that this "explosive" work "deftly captures the tension of patriotic grandiosity and provincial defensiveness found in city halls across the land."
What would you do to keep from being the villain in the history books? Full of backstabbing, personal agendas, and pet peeves, The Minutes explores small-town politics and the real-world effects of trying to rewrite history. When Mr. Peel returns to his town council meeting after missing the previous week for his mother’s funeral, he is shocked to find that Mr. Carp has been removed from the council. Unable to get an answer out of any other councilors as to why Mr. Carp has been removed, Peel makes it his mission to uncover the mystery of the missing councilman. Soon it becomes clear, however, that this is not just a run-of-the-ill corruption scandal – something much darker is woven into the fabric of Big Cherry. With author Letts a multiple prize winner for his dysfunctional-comedy classic August: Osage County, his scathing, Tony-nominated 2017 comedy The Minutes exposes the ugliness behind some of our most closely-held American narratives while asking each of us what we would do to keep from becoming history’s losers.
Serving as The Minutes' director is area favorite Jeremy Mahr, his recent credits including the Playcrafters Barn Theate's God of Carnage and appearing in Quad City Music Guild's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Riverside Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Black Box's The Lion in Winter. With the comedy's stage management by Becca McNamar, set construction by Michael Kopriva, and lighting by technical director and Reader theatre reviewer Alexander Richardson, the Black Box's co-owner and artistic director Lora Adams designed the set and costumes, and said, “When I read the play, its subject matter made me think election time might be a good time to produce it at the Black Box,”
Portraying Mr. Peel, a role originated on Broadway by Schitt's Creek co-star Noah Reid, is Josef Bodenbender, whose credits include the Black Box's 2020 production of Waiting for Godot and this past summer's Taming of the Shrew for Genesius Guild. Joining Bodenbender in The Minutes' ensemble is a gifted cast of area-theatre veterans: Mike Carron; Matthew Call; Andy Koski; Elizabeth Melville; Tamra McConoughey; Jane Simonsen; Jessica White; Keenan Wilson; and Richardson's fellow Reader theatre reviewers Kitty Hooker and Mischa Hooker.
The Minutes runs in Moline from November 6 through 14, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is $20, and more information and tickets are available by calling 563-284-2350 and visiting TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.
