Sixty-four years late and right on time, Alice Childress’ wise and stirring backstage comedy-drama Trouble in Mind is making its long-in-coming Broadway debut tonight, and to describe the pla…
debut tonight, and to describe the play as prescient would be an understatement. Uncanny rings truer.that takes a strong place in a theatrical season already formidable in its roster of performances,takes a behind-the-curtain look at the racism, coded prejudice, self-flattery, sexism and built-in bigotry that Broadway has always professed to eschew..
Millie: Last show I was in, I wouldn’t even tell my relatives. All I did was shout “Lord, have mercy!”Wiletta: Yes, but you did it, so hush. She’s played every flower in the garden. Let’s see, what was your “White folks can’t stand unhappy Negroes,” she says, “so laugh, laugh when it ain’t funny at all.” After John shyly points out the “Uncle Tommish” tone, Wiletta says, “It is Tommish… but they do it more than we do. They call it bein’ a ‘yes man.’ You either do it and stay or don’t do it and get out.”
This beautifully-honed Roundabout Theatre Company production, from the era-perfect designs of Arnulfo Maldonado’s naturalistic set and Emilio Sosa’s costumes, to the subtle shifts in Kathy A. Perkins’ lighting design that mirror the evolving moods of the play and its characters. Charles Randolph Wright directs with a rhythm and pacing that combines backstage realism with the dramatic beats of Wiletta’s awakening power.makes a wonderful showcase for an excellent cast.