Trouble in Mind
Written by Alice Childress and Michael Aegean
Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright
Roundabout Theatre Company at American Airlines Theatre
December 29, 2021
Production website
💉💉💉💉 out of 5.

The last three post-Covid trips that I have taken to New York have all been about bringing visibility to black artists, stories, and history.  There has truly been a renaissance in black literature on stage and new actors/new faces are popping up all over Broadway.  It is so great to be part of this excitement.  But of all the stories about the Black experience none is more effective than Trouble in Mind – – and that is quite a feat for a play that was first optioned and later rejected for Broadway in 1955.  Back in 1955, the play was well received Off Broadway but was stopped on its path to Broadway because white producers wanted the script to be “toned down”. The playwright, Alice Childress, refused to make the change. But today we see the full unedited production straight from the playwright’s pen.

Clyde’s
Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
2nd Stage at Helen Hayes Theatre
December 28, 2021
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

As the play began, I knew I was not going to like this play at all, but, as I left the theatre, I began to like it more and more.  I believe the reason I got such a negative start had to deal with my seats.  I was lucky/unlucky to score seats in the center section right in the second row.  I had a clear view of the stage and all was good – – until the lights went down.  From the very first moment all things on stage were SO loud and SO overplayed and SO working more to get an audience to laugh rather than settling down and trying to bring us into the world of the play.  A perfect example is the character of Letitia twerking away for sake of the audience before we even know what/who she is in the play.