Trouble in Mind review: Tanya Moodie is excellent in this essential revival
Written in 1955, the year the Montgomery bus boycott began, Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind is about a gifted and passionate black actress held back by a predominantly white theatre world. The fact that Childress’s play – funny, startling and incredibly modern-feeling – isn’t in the canon and didn’t get a production on Broadway until this year shows how close it comes to the bone.
Tanya Moodie reprises the role of Wiletta (she played her at the Coronet in 2017), a woman who gets to rehearsals early, just so she can be alone with the stage. Wiletta’s career thus far has also been an apprenticeship in how to act around white people – always laugh at what they say, don’t act as clever as you really are. She imparts this knowledge to rookie castmate John (Daniel Adeosun) who will be playing her son, relishing the role of mentor, passing on what she had to find out on her own.
Backstage is brought lovingly on stage by Rajha Shakiry’s set and Elena Peña’s sound design – we get the battered old piano, the cavernous echo of the back door closing. The rehearsal room lights the touch paper for a set of fascinating power dynamics. White director Al Manners (Rory Keenan) gives the largely black company a grandiose speech about why he wanted to put on this particular play, which culminates in a lynching. “This is now. WE are living this!” he says, with no apparent irony. He warns them about his unorthodox methods, but they’re more like a set of half-baked ‘techniques’ that he stole from a book he’s skimmed through. He asks them to think about their intentions as they perform, then tells Wiletta “you’re great until you start thinking”, before bombarding her with insincere luvvie talk to try and placate her. John, meanwhile, starts to mimic Manners in order to gain his respect, rather than take Wiletta’s advice.
Although the pacing can sometimes feel leisurely, Nancy Medina’s production deftly flits between Childress’s comedy and the play’s shocking moments. Among the superlative cast, there isn’t a weak link. Moodie is wonderful as Wiletta, a woman who is so much smarter than the world will allow her to show. She’s extraordinary in a furious speech about the handful of racist stereotypes she’s had to play in the past. Keenan captures the comic absurdity of Manners as well as the menace within, exploding with self-pity and vitriol when confronted about his prejudices. In a speech about witnessing a lynching as a young boy, Cyril Nri as older cast member Sheldon brings the audience to a standstill. You can hear a pin drop.
An explosive third act brings the drama to a head, and also draws out some of the complicated questions that Childress is grappling with. The play they are performing in is deeply problematic, but the black cast members need the work. Not everyone can afford to have principles. This is an essential revival; that Childress’s work is finally being seen is, at least, one injustice corrected.
National Theatre, until Jan 29; nationaltheatre.org.uk
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