Review: Wiggerlover [white Boy + Black Dad = Grey Areas] (Raven Theatre)

  
  
Wiggerlover [white boy +
   black dad = gray areas] 

Created by James Anthony Zoccoli
at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark (map)
thru May 5   |  tickets: $15-$20   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets 
  
  
   Read entire review
  

---

Complexities of racial identity masterfully explored in one-man show

Raven Theatre’s Evermore Series presents

Wiggerlover [white boy + black dad = gray areas]

Review by J.H. Palmer

As the audience waits for James Anthony Zoccoli to make his stage entrance, DJ Gregor Mortis sets the mood for his one-man show, mixing the likes of John Mellencamp with Public Enemy, something that never would have crossed my mind but somehow makes perfect sense. Zoccoli makes his entrance and apologizes for his tardiness to an unseen casting director. Standing alone under a spotlight, he is asked to say the word “niggerlover” several times, changing his intonation with each recitation. This experience is drawn from life; Zoccoli had a bit role in the film “The Express” and had one line – well, one word, in the entire film. (If you go to IMDB and hit the tab to see the full cast and crew, scroll about halfway down and you’ll see him credited as “W. Virginia Heckler.”)

From there he takes us back to 1979: The Sugar Hill Gang’s hit song “Rapper’s Delight” is getting tons of airtime; Martin Luther King Day is officially made a holiday by President Jimmy Carter; the miniseries “Roots” makes television history; and Zoccoli’s mother marries Mr. Bell, a black man who Zoccoli would come to call “dad.”

What follows is a 60 minute monolog on the complexities of racial identity filtered through the experience of a boy who grew up in a multiracial household. Zoccoli has an uncanny ability to mimic, and using only a baseball hat to differentiate between characters he channels the voices of his Polish-American mother, his Italian-American father, and his African-American stepfather. He’s also a gifted storyteller, and commands the attention of his audience for the duration of the show.

Zoccoli’s racial identity gets blurred early on – shortly after moving to Evanston with his mom and his new dad, Mr. Bell tells him to get his “black ass” in the house. Despite living in a multicultural neighborhood, at school he is perpetually asked the question “what are you?” Searching for respite from his racial confusion, he turns to television, and finds himself identifying more closely with Apollo Creed than Rocky, prefers Venus Flytrap to Johnny Fever, and would take Freddie “Boom-Boom” Washington over Vinnie Barbarino any day. He longs to be black, and given the choice between: “hockey, heavy metal, mullets (or) hoop, hip-hop, high-top fades” yearns to be identified as black.

Zoccoli has the credibility to discuss, in very specific terms, what it means to grow up in a biracial household in the 1980’s, but more than that, he draws attention to the dualities we all face. Few among us can claim to have descended from a single nationality or race, and if anything has been made clear since Obama has been elected, it’s that we’re not living in a post-racial society. If anything, we’ve begun to revert. I’ve heard the word “nigger” spoken out loud more since the 2008 Presidential election than at any time before.

In the post-show discussion, Zoccoli names the moment he had to audition for the role of “W. Virginia Heckler” as the moment he realized he had to write what has become his one-man show. Zoccoli manages to bring the issue of racial identity down to scale in this real-life story that is by turns hilarious and poignant, and will leave you wondering about the dichotomies in your own life. To hear Zoccoli perform a short version of his story, visit 2nd Story, where he recently performed a piece titled: “Half-Polish, Half-Italian, All-Black.”

Rating: ★★★★

Wiggerlover [white boy + black dad = gray areas] continues through May 5th at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark (map), with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30pm.  Tickets are $15-$20, and are available by phone (773-338-2177) or online at TicketTurtle.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at RavenTheatre.com.  (Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission. Post-show discussion after every performance for those who wish to stay)

---