02/08/2026

A new version of pioneering Black playwright Alice Childress's seminal 1955 play as part of Radio 4's 'Story of America' season.

Trouble in Mind follows a group of actors rehearsing a new Broadway drama with an 'anti-lynch' theme, at a time when issues of segregation and civil rights were fiercely contested across the United States.

Wiletta Mayer is a seasoned Black actress increasingly troubled by the compromises she is expected to make, as the company shapes a story that claims to confront racism while reducing its Black characters to stereotypes. Through its layered, play‑within‑a‑play structure, Childress offers an incisive critique of the period’s racial dynamics, building to a powerful act of artistic and personal resistance.

PART TWO
With opening night approaching, Wiletta’s growing unease with the play and her character comes to a head.

This play was written in 1950s America and features strong discriminatory language of the time.

CAST (in order of appearance)
Wiletta Mayer ..... Doña Croll
Henry ...... Gary Lilburn
John Nevins ..... Tunji Kasim
Millie Davis ..... Ellena Vincent
Sheldon Forrester ..... Joseph Mydell
Judy Sears ..... Isabella Inchbald
Al Manners ...... Joseph Millson
Eddie Fenton ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Bill O’Wray ..... Trevor Cooper

Composition and piano by Tim Sutton

Director ..... Femi Elufowoju Jr

Producer ..... Anne Isger
Production Co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Jon Powell

A BBC Studios Production