NEW YORK (AP) — The only thing distressing about Alice Childress’ searing play “Trouble in Mind” is that it has taken this long to get to Broadway.
The two-act drama, which takes place on a Broadway stage, is an unsettling examination of the racial divide in the 1950s. As a result, it operates perfectly in the 2020s.
Childress crafted a satire of the white theatre scene at the time, puncturing liberal platitudes and the white dedication to Black equality. It’s a must-see during the autumn season.
The strong Roundabout Theatre Company production, which opened Thursday, stars —LaChanze and Chuck Cooper, who is still standing on fissures that were raw in the 1950s.
“Trouble in Mind“ premiered off-Broadway to critical acclaim in 1955 and was set to transfer to Broadway in 1957. It would have been the first Broadway play written by a Black woman.
He begins as edgy and welcoming, wanting “the solid texture of truth,” but quickly reveals himself to be straight-up dictatorial
Ultimately bigoted Childress makes her most fiery arguments in the play-within-a-play “Chaos in Belleville,”.
The firm demonstrates how horrible it is as they execute the play-within-the-play:
Willetta plays a maid whose son is in mortal danger from a white mob yet who irons shirts strangely.
Soulfully singing church hymns is required of the Black characters Despite being told by the director that he has tried to give her roles dignity, Willetta snaps.
“Do you understand what your dignity is?”, She fires back.
“I’m wearing an old black straw hat with a flower stitched up in front, my hands folded across my stomach,
and I’m saying the same stupid idiot thing.”
Cooper’s Sheldon knows the limited options but is ready to go along with them. “White people are sticking together,we’re fighting.
