Trouble in Mind

Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress was written in 1955 at the beginning of the civil rights movement. Throughout the play there is a conflict between the director and actors. The play is partly centered on equality for African Americans and how they maintain their individuality while supporting their race as a collective. Chaos in Bellville is a melodrama, Meta-theatre (Play within a Play) and a Microcosm (Smaller version of Something Larger). Al Manners, the director manipulates the actors to become one with their character. Manners takes a dictatorship approach to having progress on the stage. The two characters that are at odds most frequent are Willetta Mayer and Manners. Manners views himself as superior and demands that Willeta should pick up a crumbled piece of paper, which he threw on the ground for the purpose of having her pick it up. Since the play takes place in 1955 and judging by Manner’s actions, it is not a stretch to think that he may be racist and resent African American actors getting jobs almost equal to whites in the theatre.