WIGGERLOVER [whiteboy+blackdad=greyareas]
writer+performer=jamesanthonyzoccoli
deejay+sounddesign=djgregormortis
lights+slides=elizabethboros-kazai
Where did the term “Caucasian” originate? What does it mean to “Act Black”? People are all the same on the inside, right?
These questions and more are answered by WIGGERLOVER [whiteboy+blackdad=greyareas].
What is WIGGERLOVER?
WIGGERLOVER is the simplest title imaginable for an unbelievably complicated true story.
WIGGERLOVER is part memoir, part editorial, all comedy. Accompanied by a deejay.
WIGGERLOVER is basically an autobiographical storytelling show…with a point.
What’s the point?
Quote the writer/performer, James Anthony Zoccoli: “My story is not necessarily even that unique in general – divorced parents, interracial re-marriage, teenage identity crisis, bi-racial family, yadda-yadda – but because of the time and place in which I grew up, the specific sequence of events are really kinda’ hard to believe. The point is simply…I dunno. Gimme a minute.”
These tales of interracial family life span from Little Jimmy’s seventh birthday to his high school graduation at the age of seventeen, with a little bit of present-day retrospection to put it all in perspective.
James continues: “Okay, so…a ‘European-American’ woman from Chicago marries an ‘African-American’ man from Mississippi. That man goes from being my mother’s husband to being my father figure to being my dad and it changes my life. Not only my life, but the lives of a lot of people in my family.”
As one might imagine, growing up as a member of an interracial family in and around the notoriously segregated city of Chicago could be difficult. Set that scenario in the Eighties and the situation is downright comical.
“There was a time when I only told these stories to friends at parties, but they grew too big for a nutshell and too large for the kitchen. I finally decided to tell these stories to the world when, a few years ago, I was cast to play the role of a racist heckler in a major motion picture. The sign was obvious. The irony was delicious. Everything had all come full circle.”
In light of our national preoccupation with race throughout history, this production is always timely and illuminates a side of race relations that is seldom explored.
“I guess the point is: growing up, I was just another kid who wanted to be exactly like his dad. It just so happened that my dad was black.”
What more do you need to know? Tickets are on sale now.
PERFORMANCES
At Gearbox – 1021 7th Street NW 3rd Floor, in Washington, DC.
July 16th at 6:15 pm
July 17th at 7:00 pm
July 19th at MIDNIGHT
July 20th at 6:15 pm
July 23rd at 6:00 pm
July 25th at 8:15 pm
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE OR CALL (866) 811-4111.
LINKS
Listen to a Live Storytelling Podcast – 2nd Story – (Featuring Snippets & Outtakes from the show).
Follow the show on facebook.
