FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Cindy Moran, Public Relations Director, 414-224-1761 January 7, 2008 RACE, IDENTITY AND OPPORTUNITY EXPLORED IN GROUNDBREAKING
PLAY
By Alice Childress Made possible in part by the generous support of:
Quadracci Powerhouse Theater The year is 1957 and African-American actress Wiletta Mayer is ready for her big break. She has started rehearsals on a play headed for Broadway, but when racially demoralizing stereotypes start to spill forth from the play, will Wiletta’s insistence on truth cost everyone the jobs they so desperately need? TROUBLE IN MIND is a fierce and funny look at the half truths we tell ourselves about race, identity and opportunity in America. Tickets can be purchased in person at The Rep Ticket Office at 108 East Wells Street, or by telephone at 414-224-9490. Tickets can also be purchased online 24/7 at milwaukeerep.com. Alice Childress’ two-act backstage comedy-drama opens on the first day of rehearsals for the 1957 Broadway play CHAOS IN BELLEVIEW. Life imitates art as the racially diverse cast and crew of this emotional anti-lynching play have to learn to interact with one another without being offensive. The cast ranges from theater veterans Wiletta Mayer and Sheldon Forrester to newcomers John Nevins and Judy Sears. Wiletta, a middle-aged African American actress, coaches John on how to succeed as an actor of color in 1950s America. The keys to success can be complicated – be natural but experienced, don’t be cocky and make the director feel superior. Tension in the production mounts when director Al Manners’ comments and unique style don’t mix with the cast’s personal beliefs. Should the actors morph to please him or stand firm for what they believe in? Each actor adapts in his or her own way, though the person with the most trouble is the 25-year stage veteran who seemed to know it all, Wiletta. Only if the cast and crew unite will the play become a Broadway success. Can they get past the play’s racially demoralizing stereotypes and their own stubbornness in time for opening night or will the curtain fall prematurely? Come find out and see what happens in Alice Childress’s groundbreaking play. Playwright Alice Childress was born in 1916 and raised during the Harlem Renaissance under the watchful eye of her beloved maternal grandmother, Alice. Childress grew up to become first an actress and then a playwright and novelist. A founding member of the American Negro Theatre, she wrote her first play, FLORENCE, in 1949. The script was written in one night on a dare from close friend and actor Sidney Poitier, who had told Alice that he didn’t think a great play could be written overnight. She proved him wrong, and the play was produced Off-Broadway in 1950. Childress became in 1952 the first African-American woman to see her play (GOLD THROUGH THE TREES) professionally produced in New York and in 1956 the first to receive an Obie Award (for TROUBLE IN MIND). She is perhaps best known today for A Hero Ain’t Nothing’ But a Sandwich, her 1973 novel about a 13-year-old black boy addicted to heroin, which was subsequently made into a movie in 1978. Other plays written by Childress include JUST A LITTLE SIMPLE (1950), WEDDING BAND: A LOVE/HATE STORY IN BLACK AND WHITE (1966) and GULLAH (1984). Alice Childress died in New York in 1994. Throughout her career, she examined the true meaning of being black, and especially of being black and female. As Childress herself once said, “I concentrate on portraying have-nots in a have society.” Director Timothy Douglas returns to The Rep after directing THE NIGHT IS A CHILD last season and GEM OF THE OCEAN in the 05/06 season. Most recently credits include: GOOD BREEDING for American Conservatory Theater; A FEMININE ENDING for South Coast Repertory (in association with Portland Center Stage) and the world premiere of August Wilson’s RADIO GOLF (the final installment of the August Wilson cycle) for Yale Repertory Theatre. For Oslo Elsewhere (Associate Artist) he directed Ibsen’s ROSMERSHOLM Off-Broadway, as well as the workshop at Norway’s National Theatret in Oslo. He served as the Associate Artistic Director for Actors Theatre of Louisville (2001 – 2004) where he staged A.M. SUNDAY, ALL MY SONS, ‘ART’, BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY, CRIMES OF THE HEART, FENCES, JITNEY, THE LIVELY LAD and THE PIANO LESSON. Representative directing assignments include productions of AH, WILDERNESS!, ANNA IN THE TROPICS, ASSASSINS, BLUE ORANGE, BOCON, COWBOYS #2, THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, CROWNS, THE CRUCIBLE, FENCES, THE GAME OF LOVE AND CHANCE, GEM OF THE OCEAN, IN THE BLOOD, INSURRECTION: HOLDING HISTORY, INTIMATE APPAREL, JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, LA:X, A LESSON BEFORE DYING, LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, MULES, PERICLES, PORTIA COUGHLIN, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THREE SISTERS, RAISED IN CAPTIVITY, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, RICHARD III, SHAKESPEARE’S R&J, SORROWS AND REJOICINGS, VALLEY SONG and the world premieres of THE LAST ORBIT OF BILLY MARS and VENICE for American Conservatory Theater, Arden Theatre Company, ASK Theatre Projects, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, City Theatre, Crossroads Theatre Company, Downstage (New Zealand), Folger Shakespeare Library, Guthrie Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Juilliard School, Magic Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, O'Neill National Playwright’s Conference, Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre (Associate Artist), Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, Syracuse Stage, Toi Whakaari (New Zealand), Utah Shakespearean Festival and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Timothy has served on the faculties of Emerson College, American Conservatory Theater, Shakespeare & Company, National Theatre Conservatory, University of Southern California, the Theatre School at DePaul University and New Zealand Drama School and is a graduate of Yale School of Drama (MFA). The cast of TROUBLE IN MIND includes: Resident Acting Company Members Lee E. Ernst (Al Manners) and James Pickering (Bill O’Wray). Guest actors in this production are: Stephanie Berry (Wiletta
Mayer); Kelsey Brennan (Judy Sears); Wayne
T. Carr (John Nevins); Richard Halverson (Henry); Jonathan
Hicks (Eddie Fenton); Rachel Leslie (Millie
Davis) and Ernest Perry, Jr. (Sheldon Forrester).
Stephanie Berry and and Ernest Perry, Jr. were previously seen
at The Rep in GEM OF THE OCEAN. Wayne T. Carr was just seen in
The Rep’s production of EURYDICE. Kelsey Brennan and Jonathan
Hicks were both members of The Rep’s Artistic Intern Company
last year. Richard Halverson is a frequent guest actor at Milwaukee
Rep. Rachel Leslie will be making her Rep debut. •This season, Milwaukee Repertory Theater is introducing a new behind-the-scenes experience. The Director’s Dialogue Series is a chance to meet some of the country’s most dynamic directors while they are visiting The Rep. The series continues on Thursday, January 22 with TROUBLE IN MIND Director Timothy Douglas, at 6:00 p.m. at The Rep. The evening will feature wine and hors d’oeuvres by Balzac Food and Wine (414-755-0099 or balzacwinebar.com). Tickets to this event are $25 and do not include a ticket to a performance. For more information contact Rebbeca Kitelinger at rkitelinger@milwaukeerep.com or at 414-290-5347.
RACE, IDENTITY AND OPPORTUNITY EXPLORED IN GROUNDBREAKING
PLAY By Alice Childress Directed by Timothy Douglas Made possible in part by the generous support of:
FACT SHEET THEATER: Quadracci Powerhouse Theater DATES: January 20, 2009 - February 15, 2009DESCRIPTION: The year is 1957 and African-American actress Wiletta Mayer is ready for her big break. She has started rehearsals on a play headed for Broadway, but when racially demoralizing stereotypes start to spill forth from the play, will Wiletta’s insistence on truth cost everyone the jobs they so desperately need? TROUBLE IN MIND is a fierce and funny look at the half truths we tell ourselves about race, identity and opportunity in America. PERFORMANCES: Tuesday,
2/10/09 -
6:30 p.m. - Early Bird/Audio Description TICKETS/INFORMATION: 414-224-9490 or buy tickets online at milwaukeerep.com TICKET OFFICE LOCATION: 108 East Wells Street in Milwaukee’s Downtown Theater District TICKET OFFICE HOURS: Mon
- Fri, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. on phones, 12 p.m. - curtain for windows
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