Writer-Director Jacquay “Ice” Waller, The Black Man-O-Logues
Tell
us about The Black Man-O-logues.
The
Black Man-O-Logues is a play that looks at a myriad of issues and situations
within our community, including love. It covers love from a variety of
perspectives. What usually shocks the audience is the different love encounters
that are depicted in this show.
What
was your inspiration for writing this play?
I
noticed that being an active director here in Atlanta, there isn’t a lot of
material that I identified with when doing auditions and screenings around the
city. [Through] a combination of different ideas and dialogue, I found out that
a lot of people don’t know what black men think when it comes to love. Where
else can you go and see the main characters on a stage that are all men? There
are men and women in this show, but the main characters, those folks that are
presenting the Man-O-Logues, they’re actually black men. I think that’s pretty
extraordinary.
So,
you only have men actually performing?
What
I label as a ‘Man-O-Logue’ is essentially a monologue [from a] male
perspective. There are nine male characters that deliver the Man-O-Logues but
they’re all supported by women. So you get a chance to really see issues. It
kind of shatters double standards. It evokes thought and we take on issues, lay
them in our patrons’ laps and allow them to deal with them. We don’t tell you
what to think or how to think; we just say, ‘Hey this is something to think
about, something to do something about.’
What
are some of the other plays that you’ve performed in?
Ain’t
Misbehavin’, Summertime and Porgy
and Bess. I’m a professional opera singer with the American Opera Company. I’m a bass
baritone. I’ve been in Three Kings and a Prince, Madame C.J. Walker [and] King
Solomon. I was the lead actor in Unspoken.
