You may not think political theater and actual theater have much in common, but you don’t have to look far to see life imitating art.
In 1997, a macaw named Jelly Bean made a splash at a Peoria City Council meeting when council member Gary Sandberg showed up with the feathered friend on his shoulder. Though he never returned to the dais, Jelly Bean was so beloved in Peoria that the Journal Star newspaper published an obituary when he died in 2016.
The council members in the fictional town of Big Cherry aren’t quite as audacious as Sandberg and Jelly Bean… But when Tracy Letts’ dark comedy takes a grim and gruesome turn, reality takes a back seat — I hope.
Director Sandra Zielinski tackles The Minutes as Heartland Theatre’s season opener, a timely play asking probing questions about democracy, manifest destiny and the mundanity of the American experiment. It’s her first project with Heartland since Bloomsday, a wistful romance based on James Joyce’s Ulysses that graced the Normal venue last spring.
“It is nothing like Bloomsday,” chuckled Zielinski. “That was nice and mild. This is nice, and funny, and mild — to a point.”
The Minutes centers on a single city council meeting, the week after one member has been absent for his mother’s funeral. That member, named Mr. Peel [Josh Nelson], asks to see the minutes from the previous meeting that are missing from his folder.
“What happens at this council meeting uncovers the beliefs of the people in that town,” Zielinski said.
Indeed, what unfurls gets to the very heart of America’s origin story — a story repeated in every proverbial Big Cherry and, in some cases, is perhaps worth revisiting.
“This council is an important place to be because they make the rules for the city,” said Zielinski. “Everybody wants to get along. Everybody smiles at each other. But underneath, the underbelly of it is the ‘official history of American horror.’”
Each council member and mayor Superba [Joe Strupek] confronts his/her town’s history differently; Zielinski calls The Minutes a mirror [the last three pages notwithstanding], showing various people trying to do the right thing for their town.
On that point, Normal Town Council members and mayoral candidates Kathleen Lorenz and Chemberly Harris, and McLean County Board candidate Corey Beirne, will participate in a post-show discussion following the Sept. 8 matinee —and they don't know how the play ends either.
“This council really is a microcosm of the town, the state, of the United States and the world — asking the question, ‘Who are we?’” Zielinski said. “Which we don’t really ask often. This play forces you to do that. I think what is marvelous about it is that Tracy Letts uses comedy to get those points across.”
The Minutes runs at Heartland Theatre through Sept. 14 at Heartland Theatre, 1110 Douglas St., Normal. Tickets are $19 at 309-452-8709 and heartlandtheatre.org.
