Terrance E. McCraney as John Nevins, Romeo Armand Seay as Sheldon Forrester, Suzanne Sefinatu Ayoka Blunk as Mille Davis, Laura Madden as Judy Sears & Yunina C. Barbour-Payne as Wiletta Mayer.
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TROUBLE IN MIND was presented by Northern Kentucky University Oct. 2- Nov. 6. You can read the show description here.
Many thanks to Mark Hardy for bringing this script to the NKU stage. The production was well-staged and well-directed. Pacing suffered slightly from slow line pick-ups and when the cast was broken up into smaller groups the transitions from one group to another were a bit abrupt.
Yunian C. Barbour-Payne did an excellent job as Wiletta Mayer. I enjoyed the strength and dignity she gave the character, especially during her “tirade” in the second act.
Travis Black did well in maintaining 73 year-old Henry and giving him emotional weight in his scenes with Wiletta.
Terrance E. McCraney’s John Nevins did come off a bit one-dimensional, and I would have liked to see more difference between Nevins the man and Nevins’ role in the play.
Romeo Armand Seay also did a good job playing the much older character of Sheldon Forrester, but his energy level seemed to drop when Sheldon didn’t have lines.
Laura Madden did well with the role of Judy Sears as the inexperienced actress but I would have liked to have seen her be a bit more genuine in her scenes with John.
Sam Rueff turns in a good performance as Al Manners, but personally I found the John Waters-esque characterization a bit distracting. It seemed to introduce an element that worked against the themes of the script.
Miles Conger does well as Eddie Fenton in his NKU debut.
Chris Bishop’s Bill O’Wray would have benefited a bit from stronger choices for the character. I wanted to see a more of the personal struggle in his interaction with the cast inside the theater and out in the real world.
The costume design by Daryl Harris greatly added to the production and set the period. Personal favorites were the choices made for the characters of Wiletta and Millie.
Bottom line, a thought-provoking well-executed production with a few small hiccups here and there.
Click here for a complete list of show times, articles and other reviews for TROUBLE IN MIND. I would love to hear what you think about the show or my review. All I ask is that you express your opinion without attacking someone else’s opinion.You can post your comments below.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 