'Trouble' Blisters in Pointed Humor ; Race, Showbiz at Centerstage

The Washington Times › February 11, 2007

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Summary

Costume designer Catherine Zuber's fitted suits, decorous little hats and stiff pocketbooks fairly scream the respectable 1950s, but the white gloves quickly come off in "Trouble in Mind," a blisteringly funny discourse on race and showbiz false faces and a neglected gem from Harlem playwright Alice Childress that's being staged with gleaming umbrage at CenterStage under the direction of Irene Lewis.

Miss Childress, who died in 1994 at age 77, may be most famous for her young adult novels "A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich," "Rainbow Jordan," and "A Short Walk," but she was also a founding member of the American Negro Theatre, where her colleagues included Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte.

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'Trouble' Blisters in Pointed Humor ; Race, Showbiz at Centerstage

Written in 1955, "Trouble in Mind" was based on Miss Childress' experience as an actor relegated to playing maids and mammies. It was to be the first play produced on Broadwa...

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