‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Brandon Micheal Hall, LaChanze & Chuck Cooper. Photo: Joan Marcus.

TROUBLE IN MIND
Written by Alice Childress
Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright
Through January 9, 2022
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.RoundaboutTheatre.org

By David NouNou

Written and first performed in 1955 as an Off-Broadway show to critical acclaim, Trouble in Mind was meant to transfer to Broadway in 1957 but never came to fruition because the playwright, Alice Childress, refused to tone down the racial discourse in her play to make it more palatable for white audiences.

Being an actress herself, Ms. Childress was tired of playing maids and other types of demeaning roles, so she wrote this play within a play and created the role of Wiletta Mayer, the title character. Wiletta has been an actress for many years and has played by the rules of the stage games of complying with everything she has to do to stay in the game.

We meet Wiletta (LaChanze), walking across the stage on the first day of rehearsal, stopping center stage in order to absorb that solitary moment where she is alone on the stage and savoring the thrill of that magical moment. She is about to star in a drivel of a play set in the South. Fellow cast members waft in: John Nevins (Brandon Micheal Hall), a young actor who will be playing her son; Millie Davis (Jessica Frances Dukes), the best friend; Sheldon Forrester (Chuck Cooper), veteran of the stage playing Wiletta’s husband; Judy Sears (Danielle Campbell), the white ingénue who becomes friendly with John Nevins; and the imbecilic white director, Al Manners (Michael Zegen), a guy who has stereotypical notions of directing this show about a black family and whose word is the only word that counts.

On the third day of rehearsals, the fur begins to fly. The director wants all the wailing and flailing and broad gestures associated with black characters from his cast.  However, Wiletta tries to explain that she can’t play the character that way and wants to play it in a normal, natural, and real manner. Floodgates open.

Racial issues are at the core of this play but they are intertwined with both humor and seriousness that makes it relevant to this day.

LaChanze is a Broadway veteran who received her first acclaim and Tony nomination for Once On This Island and has never stopped being a force of nature. We know her mostly for her musical performances, but in Trouble in Mind, she hits new heights as a dramatic actress. Her blowup/meltdown in Act II leaves one breathless.

Michael Zegen, better known for playing Joel Maisel in Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” is in the unenviable role of delusional director, Al Manners. His name is an oxymoron.

Chuck Cooper adds nobility to every role he plays, and newcomer Jessica Frances Dukes keeps the laughs coming.

Not as universal in theme as Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Alice Childress shows the universality of what every African American actress has had to endure.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 22, 2021
Reviewed at November 21, 2021 press performance.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze, Chuck Cooper & Michael Zegen. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Jessica Frances Dukes & LaChanze. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: LaChanze & Simon Jones. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Michael Zegen, Alex Mickiewicz & Don Stephenson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘TROUBLE IN MIND’: Danielle Campbell & Michael Zegen. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE’: Russell Tovey & Mark Strong. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
By the Young Vic Production
Written by Arthur Miller
Directed by Ivo van Hove
Through February 21, 2016
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), http://www.aviewfromthebridgebroadway.com/

By David NouNou

Having just had an outstanding revival in 2010 starring Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Hecht and magnificently and authentically directed by Gregory Mosher, was it necessary to have this Arthur Miller classic revived again just five years later? It depends on one’s perspective. The 2010 production never went to London, and this version is a stripped-down British import of A View From The Bridge done by the Young Vic Production, directed by Belgian Ivo van Hove.

Ivo van Hove is having a theatrical moment right now. He certainly has stripped the play down to its basic characters and no sets. However, he has added so much more. Depending on one’s tastes, one could view this as either good or bad. It has European sensibilities and none of the American aesthetics, and this play is as American as you can get. It’s about Brooklyn longshoremen in the 1950s. What we have now as we walk into the theatre is an ominous black square cube that overtakes the height of the stage and on either side are rows of seats, giving the effect that the performance takes place in a Plexiglas arena. Lights dim, cue  operatic music, the cube rises, the stage is engulfed in smoke, revealing two semi-naked, buff men in what seems to be a steam room, rinsing themselves off. Is it titillating? Indeed, but what this has to do with longshoreman or starting the play (unless Mr. van Hove knows something about Eddie that we did not before) is anyone’s guess. The entire performance is done barefoot. Lots of sound effects, different types of ominous music, tribal drums symbolizing murmuring heart beats, blood pouring on the stage. Too many directorial choices; hence the European perception performed in the very raw present.

The original production was mounted in 1955. Longshoreman Eddie Carbone (Mark Strong) lives in a blue-collar environment in a working-class apartment with his long-suffering wife Beatrice (Nicola Walker) and her niece, Catherine (Phoebe Fox). Catherine was left in their care since she was 12 when her mother died. Catherine is now almost 18 and blossoming into a woman. Eddie’s love for Catherine has also developed to more than that of an uncle. This love has taken over Eddie to the point of an uncontrollable obsession. Matters are further complicated when the Carbones take in two illegal Italian immigrants, Marco (Michael Zegan) and his younger brother Rodolpho (Russell Tovey), both of whom are Beatrice’s relatives. Marco has left Sicily, his wife and three children to make a living so he can send money to support his family. Rodolpho is a happy-go-lucky person who came over to enjoy what America has to offer. Marco is diligent and hardworking. Rodolpho is a free spirit, who sings, has a sense of humor, can make dresses and also cooks. (Now he’s a real catch.) He also has genuine feelings for Catherine. However, all this does not sit well with Eddie. He has long sacrificed for and protected Catherine to the point of unnaturalness and is not about to give up Catherine to what he calls a “Paper Doll,” a disparaging comment as to how he perceives Rodolpho. That’s also the name of an American song that Rodolpho sings upon first meeting the Carbones.

Like any Greek tragedy, Eddie’s world will come crashing down on him, knowing full well that, through his actions, the consequences will be irreversible, but they are beyond his emotional control. Throughout it all is his fierce determination that never lets him give up what he rightfully believes and feels is his: His respect. When he demands “respect,” not only in words but also with the fury in his eyes, not even Alfieri, his counselor at law (Michael Gould, the Greek Chorus in this case), can rescue him with any advice.

I would not suggest sitting on the side stage sections because the performances are incredibly intense and you don’t want to miss a single facial tic or expression. As an example, when Eddie comes to Alfieri to ask for advice and Alfieri remarks “his eyes were like tunnels, my first thought was that he had committed a crime,” it is frustrating when you can’t see the eyes or the tunnels. Instead, you see the back of the actor’s head. I did say the effect is you are in an arena so you don’t want to miss a single nuance. You don’t want to see direction; you want to see the performance.

And what amazing performances indeed. Mark Strong, as Eddie Carbone, gives an indelible performance, I wish I could have seen all of it, his intensity is mesmerizing. Equally brilliant is Nicola Walker as Beatrice, Eddie’s long-suffering wife. I have seen four other excellent actresses play this part but none better than Ms. Walker. Phoebe Fox as Catherine was too childlike and not enough of a desirable woman; one wonders why Eddie is so obsessed with her when he has such a great-looking wife. Every time she throws herself at Eddie and wraps her legs around him and he squeezes her tightly, in front of Beatrice, it becomes creepier than a loving hug. Michael Zegan (as Marco) and Russell Tovey (as Rodolpho), also give memorable performances.

Despite directorial overindulgences, Mark Strong and Nicola Walker certainly make A View From The Bridge a must-see, raw and different interpretation of an American classic.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 6, 2015
Reviewed at performance on December 4, 2015

‘A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE’: Mark Strong & cast . Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE’: Phoebe Fox & Nicola Walker. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE’: (left to right) Phoebe Fox, Mark Strong & Nicola Walker. Photo: Jan Versweyvel

‘A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE’: Mark Strong. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

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