Trouble in Mind is a play that focuses on a number of issues pertaining to race, set in a
Broadway theatre during the civil rights movement. As the white director Mr. Manners directs a
production of Chaos in Belleville, the largely African American cast starts to question the
meanings and motivations of the play. Wiletta, an experienced actress, especially struggles with
the direction and supposed progressive nature of the show. The production, while containing
some questionable choices, succeeded in many ways. This comes as somewhat of a relief
considering the current run of shows at the School of Dramatic Arts.
Starting with some things that did not work as well, there was one majorly
questionable casting choice in the show. Wiletta is written as an older woman, experienced
enough to be giving advice to new actors, but the actress portraying her seemed incredibly
young. In fact, it was so noticeable that the younger actress seemed much older, and it was
fairly distracting at first. The other major issue came when Mr. Manners seemingly attempted
to seduce the white actress in his play. Perhaps a victim of the time of the play, Manners comes
off as a creep and gives away the ending of the show. When, at the climax, Manners reveals his
prejudice, it needs to be a shock to the audience. Instead, throughout the play Manners was an
obvious jerk, and the payoff was seriously lessened.
These minor things being said, the play set out to tell a story and succeeded. Each
character seemed quite genuine in the most important moments. A standout was the
recounting by one older actor of his seeing an actual lynching. This came down largely to the
physical work put into the character before the moment of payoff. Despite the school setting,
actors are cast as older characters, and they must perform to the best of their abilities. The
monologue was delivered not with rage at what they had experienced, but instead the actor
was calm and recounted the story with the wisdom and control that were the cores of this
character. In a show where the people felt alive onstage through the constant ebb and flow of
multiple conversations simultaneously, the moment of actual listening was both memorable
and impactful. This greatly contributed to making the message of the play heard. In all forms of
progress, there are those who think they are forward-thinking allies but still harbor deep
prejudices. We must look inside ourselves and be critical.
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