“Trouble in Mind” opens Nov. 22 at SUNY New Paltz
The Department of Theatre Arts will present “Trouble in Mind,” a play-within-a-play about a middle-aged Black actress in her first starring role, as the second installment of the 2024-25 Mainstage Production series.
Performances will be given from Nov. 22-24 and Dec. 5-8 at Parker Theatre. The production is directed by actor, director and former New Paltz faculty member Jammie Patton. A celebratory gala will be held following play on opening night, Friday, Nov. 22.
Tickets for “Trouble in Mind” are available now at this link.
“Trouble in Mind” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
Please note: This play tackles themes of racism and sexism, and includes the use of profanity and racially offensive terms. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
About “Trouble in Mind”
“Trouble in Mind,” written by the late, renowned playwright Alice Childress, was first performed off Broadway in New York in 1955.
It tells the story of Wiletta Mayer, an African-American actress who has spent her career playing stereotypical characters trapped on a merry-go-round of mammies, maids and other menials.
The curtain rises on the first day of rehearsal for “Chaos in Belleville,” a Broadway-bound play tackling the harsh truths of racism in America, in which Mayer plays the lead for the first time in her career. But when those truths spill out of the play and into the rehearsal hall, will Mayer’s insistence on her dignity cost her the work she desperately needs?
From late 2021 into early 2022—more than 65 years after its off-Broadway debut, and decades after Childress’ death in 1994—a critically- acclaimed version of “Trouble in Mind” was presented on Broadway by Roundabout Theatre Company, garnering four Tony Award nominations. The actress LaChanze, who played Mayer in the Broadway production of “Trouble in Mind,” was nominated for a Tony for her performance.
The SUNY New Paltz students behind this production of “Trouble in Mind” had the opportunity to learn from LaChanze when she came to campus at the start of the fall 2024 semester for a live Q&A.
About the Playwright
Childress was born in 1916 and raised in Harlem by her maternal grandmother during the Harlem Renaissance. Encouraged by her grandmother to pursue her writing talents, Childress first became an actress,then a playwright and novelist.
She was a founding member of the American Negro Theatre and wrote her first play, “Florence,” in 1949—which was reportedly written in one night on a dare from Childress’ close friend and actor Sidney Poitier, who said he didn’t think a great play could be written overnight.
“Florence” was produced off Broadway in 1950—then, in 1952, “Gold Through the Trees” made Childress the first African-American woman to see her play professionally produced in New York. In 1955, Childress’ “Trouble in Mind” debuted off-Broadway. Decades after she passed away in 1994 , Roundabout Theatre Company produced the play on Broadway in 2021, earning four Tony Award nominations.
Today, Childress is perhaps best known for her 1973 novel, “A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich,” about a 13-year-old Black boy addicted to heroin, which was made into a movie in 1978.
About the Director
Patton has been acting and directing for both stage and screen for more than two decades, with a strong affinity for empowering stories about women of color.
Her recent directing credits include “The Cake” at Shaker Bridge Theater, “Cadillac Crew” at Vermont Stage, and—here in the Hudson Valley—”In the Continuum,” “The Niceties,” and “Skeleton Crew” at Shadowland Stages in Ellenville.
As an actor, Patton has appeared in several TV shows including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Inventing Anna,” “God Friended Me,” “Justified,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” among several others. Patton recently won a New York Indie Shorts Award for Best Actress for her performance in the short film “The Uniform.”
Patton is an alumna of Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, as well as the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University. Patton previously served as a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts at SUNY New Paltz.