Alice Childress Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Arthur Gelb

Critical Essay by Arthur Gelb

The author of "Trouble in Mind" is Alice Childress, a writer with a quick eye for the foibles and crotches, the humor and pathos of backstage life in the type of Broadway production that utilizes a predominantly Negro cast.

Miss Childress … has some witty and penetrating things to say about the dearth of roles for Negro actors in the contemporary theatre, the cut-throat competition for these parts and the fact that Negro actors often find themselves playing stereotyped roles in which they cannot bring themselves to believe.

She also has some sharp comments to make about the jumpy state of nerves in the much-investigated entertainment media. But it is all done with good humor and, except for the last [sections of dialogue], manages to avoid any impassioned sermonizing. (p. 23)

Arthur Gelb, in The New York Times (© 1955 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission),...
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