The Station Theatre in Urbana is set to open its newest production tonight. “The Minutes” focuses on power structures within a small town council. It is the latest installment in Station Theatre’s 52nd season, “The Hopeful and Broken Pieces of the American Dream.”
The show centers on a nervous new councilman and his growing suspicion of the rest of his council when a senior councilman goes missing.
The dark comedy is relevant because of how local politics has grown in importance in Champaign-Urbana, said Kendall Jeonson, director of “The Minutes” and president of the Station Theatre’s Board of Directors.
“The town council meetings in the last eight years have gotten more and more energized, vitriolic,” Jeonson said. “We’ve got more attention from both the Democratic and moreso the Republican party towards actually getting strong candidates in lower-level seats.”
He said while the play’s characters may seem grandiose, they imitate reality.
“They believe what needs to happen right now is that the parking spot that’s no longer reserved needs somebody else in it,” Jeonson said. “Like, people are starving.”
“The Minutes” touches on topics ranging from accessibility to political indifference to the history of violence toward Indigenous people in the U.S.
“It deals with how this town reconciles the truth of how the town was founded, … which was violent and not fair to the Native Americans who were living on the land in the first place, versus the story that they tell themselves, the reenactment they do every year from childhood through adulthood,” Jeonson said.
Jeonson grew up in Urbana and said he attended University of Illinois sports games where the Chief Illniwek dance was performed. He said the play reflects the Champaign-Urbana community and its history with the now-retired Chief symbol.
“I watched this dance [of the Chief], feeling like I’m a part of this grand tradition at the Assembly Hall,” Jeonson said. “Versus [now] knowing and understanding and doing what I can with my privilege as a white guy to hopefully show some people in the audience that we need to reconcile with this, too.”
The Station Theatre is partnering with the Illinois Kingfisher and League of Women Voters for this production. Following the play, the League of Women Voters will hand out bipartisan literature in the lobby to encourage voting. The Illinois Kingfisher will also hand out literature about their ongoing campaign to become the University of Illinois’ official mascot.
The play runs through Nov. 3. Tickets are available at stationtheatre.com.