Theater Review: Trouble in Mind

                   Cast of "Trouble in Mind" at the Old Globe

Geopolitics is a mess, social cohesion seems to have utterly disappeared and we’ve all been off in our Covid-imposed lonely little corners for what seems like eons.

Back in 1955, playwright Alice Childress wrote “Trouble in Mind,” giving us an unsettling story about another kind of isolation, featuring a troupe of hopeful Broadway actors going into rehearsal for a new play about lynching.

Lynching? That’s enough to put you on your guard right off, especially since 

the piece was both written by and will be directed by a white man.

It was in 1955 that Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, which was followed by the beginnings of the civil rights movement, which eventually led to what we know today as the Black Lives Matter movement.

It’s been a long, harrowing, bloody march to equality, and we haven’t even come close to accomplishing it, 60-some years after “Trouble in Mind” was written.

Most of the cast in this play (called “Chaos in Belleville”) is black, but the decision-makers – director and staff – are white, and this is where the problems arise. Interracial communication is difficult enough without tossing in a play that features the old stereotypes.

The star of the show is Wiletta Mayer, a well-known actress excited to finally be getting star billing. 

This is the first role for a handsome young black starry-eyed newcomer named John Nevins, thrilled to be part of “the theater.” 

“Show business, it’s just a business,” Wiletta answers. “Colored folks ain’t in no theater. Why don’t you make something of yourself?”

But when John announces his intention to get to the top in short order, she 

shares the secret of working with this director: agree vociferously with everything he says, and laugh uproariously at his jokes, no matter how offensive or unfunny.

And then we see how that principle works in practice. It’ll make you laugh, and gasp, sigh and maybe get angry, and then you’ll realize how much work we all still have left to do to attain “liberty and justice for all.” Or even to act civilly to one other.

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, founder of Moxie Theatre, directs this piece with the knowledge of someone who’s been there. She has. She’s black and female, one of the best directors around, and she brilliantly directed “Trouble in Mind” in 2015 at Moxie. Now she’s a resident artist at the Old Globe, bringing her skills to the show again.

The play first opened off-Broadway, then was picked up by Broadway producers, who wanted changes. Childress made many, but when they asked her to change the ending, she refused, and the play never got the Broadway opening it deserved until this year, almost 30 years after her death.

Maggie Walters, a student from the Old Globe/University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program), joins the Equity cast – Tom Bloom, Kevin Isola, Ramona Keller, Bibi Mama, Jake Milgard, Victor Morris, and Mike Sears. All are outstanding.

The production, too, is excellent. Lawrence E. Moten III’s rehearsal hall-look set, Nicole Jescinth’s costumes, Sherrice Mojgani’s lighting and Luqman Brown’s sound design all contribute to making this funny, scathing, still relevant play a must-see theatrical experience. Don’t miss it.

“Trouble in Mind” plays through March 13, 2022 on The Old Globe’s Shiley Stage.

Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday and 2 and 7 p.m. Prices start at $29. An open-caption performance will be held on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.

For tickets: www.TheOldGlobe,org, (619) 234-5623