Trouble in Mind (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Alice Childress
- First Published: 1971
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Protest drama
- Time of Work: Monday and Tuesday mornings in fall, 1957
- Setting: A Broadway theater in New York City
- Principal Characters: Wiletta Mayer, Al Manners, Eddie Fenton, John Nevins, Judy Sears, Millie Davis, Sheldon Forrester, Henry, 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
Form and Content
Trouble in Mind presents a play within a play, pointing out ironic parallels between the frame story of the actors rehearsing and “Chaos in Belleville,” the play being rehearsed, a naturalistic portrayal of Southern lynching. In reality, “Chaos” acts out the racist stereotypes it seems to be protesting. It presents civil rights struggles in the late 1950’s in which a young black man named Job, played by John, wants to register to vote, although his mother, Petunia, played by Wiletta, tries to restrain him for fear of racist reprisals....
[The entire page is 2270 words long]

