Trouble in Mind (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Alice Childress
- First Published: 1971
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Problem play
- Time of Work: 1957
- Setting: New York City
- Principal Characters: Wiletta Mayer, Al Manners, Sheldon Forrester, Millie Davis, John Nevins, Judy Sears, Bill O’Wray
- Genres: Social realism, Satire, Drama
- Subjects: 1950’s, African Americans, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Acting or actors, Racism, Sexism, New York City, Drama or dramatists
- Locales: New York, NY
The Play
Trouble in Mind takes place on a Broadway stage where a group of actors are rehearsing a predictable Southern melodrama, Chaos in Belleville, written and produced by whites and filled with racial stereotypes. Wiletta Mayer enters, speaking kindly to an elderly doorman who recognizes her from a musical in which she played years ago. A moment later John Nevins appears, thrilled with this opportunity. Wiletta advises the young man from her experience in white-dominated theater: He must not acknowledge he has studied drama, which might sound presumptuous,...
[The entire page is 2220 words long]
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