美国国家公共电台 NPR A Play About Politics For (But Not About) The Age Of Trump

 

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

We're going to hear now about a new play by Tracy Letts. He won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 2008 for his Broadway hit "August: Osage County." His new work, "The Minutes," is at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. It's about politics, the secrets government officials hide and the fraught¹ compromises they often make in the course of doing business. But as Dan Weissmann reports, the minutes has nothing to do with Washington politics.

DAN WEISSMANN, BYLINE²: Tracy Letts says by the time the 2016 election happened, he was almost finished writing "The Minutes."

TRACY LETTS: It was a job of work to keep the blinders on and not make the play about Donald Trump³ or Hillary Clinton or - actually, to escape into the world of the play during that political moment was great, was solace⁴.

WEISSMANN: Steppenwolf's artistic⁵ director, Anna Shapiro, says "The Minutes" was solace for her, too. Letts sent her the play just a few weeks after the election.

ANNA SHAPIRO: And I read it, and I laughed out loud really hard for the first time since the first week of November. And then I cried at the end.

WEISSMANN: "The Minutes" is a dark comedy with echoes of Shirley Jackson's classic horror story "The Lottery⁶." That's the one where everyone in a village gathers for an annual ritual which ends with stoning one of their neighbors to death. Letts says he brought up Jackson's story with the cast during rehearsals⁷.

LETTS: I've referenced "The Lottery" and I've referenced "Rosemary's Baby" a couple of times.

WEISSMANN: The ritual in "The Minutes" is a city council meeting in a medium-size Midwestern town. A new council member, a young transplant from the coast, has just come back from burying his mother. He missed a meeting while he was gone, and he quickly gets the sense that it might have been eventful. As people trickle⁸ in, he asks another council member.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "THE MINUTES")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) Did something happen with Mr. Carp?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Blake) Who have you spoken to?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) What do you mean? No one.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Blake) You've spoken to no one?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) I'm speaking to you.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Blake) You've spoken - to no one.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) I just got back.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Blake) But you said you heard about Carp.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) Just now, coming in, I overheard some talk about Mr. Carp.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Blake) You really don't know anything.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) I really don't.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Blake) Carp is no longer on the council.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Peel) What?

WEISSMANN: It takes most of the play to get the unsettling answer to that question - what happened to Mr. Carp? It plays out in one long scene, the council meeting, with most of the cast on stage the whole time. Ensemble⁹-playing is Steppenwolf's specialty¹⁰. And Letts, who's also an actor, has been a member of the company for 15 years. "The Minutes" is his seventh play to premiere here. It was Steppenwolf's production of "August: Osage County" that ran on Broadway for a year and a half. He says the company's process is crucial to how his plays develop.

LETTS: My plays here are prodded¹¹, tested, questioned by people who are - they're all very well versed¹² in interrogating¹³ a new play.

WEISSMANN: Some of those people choose to work with Steppenwolf even when they can get bigger paychecks and bigger audiences elsewhere.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION")

WILLIAM PETERSEN: (As Gil Grissom) My name's Gil Grissom. I work in criminalistics.

WEISSMANN: That's the voice of William Petersen, who starred in the hit TV show "CSI." Petersen is a Chicago-area native and a Steppenwolf ensemble member. He first performed with the company more than 35 years ago. He plays the mayor in "The Minutes" and says taking the role was an easy decision.

PETERSEN: I felt that it had meaning and impact. And it was entertaining. And it allowed us to look at ourselves in a different way than we have been over the last 12 months.

WEISSMANN: It's Petersen's character, the mayor, who ultimately allows the truth to come out.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "THE MINUTES")

PETERSEN: (As character) Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Madame clerk, will you please call the roll?

WEISSMANN: What happened to the missing council member and why? The answer involves community complicity in a creation myth, one that hides how the town was really founded and on whose backs. The young councilman is appalled¹⁴, but the mayor makes a pitch. You're a new dad. Before you commit to rocking this boat, remember - your daughter's in it, too. The mayor gets the play's best lines, and playwright¹⁵ Tracy Letts says that's the point.

LETTS: It's easy to vilify¹⁶ people for their ideas. It's easy to demonize them. I was more interested in the idea that, well, let's listen to his vision of the world, test it. See if you agree or if you disagree. Are you complicit or not complicit?

WEISSMANN: "The Minutes" will test Chicago audiences with that uncomfortable question through January 7. Then there's been talk of moving the play to Broadway. For NPR News, I'm Dan Weissmann.

1 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

7 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

9 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

10 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

11 prodded   

v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。
• He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 versed   

adj. 精通，熟练

参考例句：

• He is well versed in history.他精通历史。
• He versed himself in European literature. 他精通欧洲文学。

13 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

14 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

16 vilify   

v.诽谤，中伤

参考例句：

• But I also do not want people to vilify.但希望我也别给人诬蔑。
• Two chose not to vilify Skilling,however.然而，也有两个人并不愿诋毁思斯奇林。