Born in New Rochelle NY, Mr. Love has worked as a professional actor (A.E.A.) for over 30 years in a number of stage productions. Among them: "Blood Knot", "Suicide in B'flat", "A Raisin in the Sun", "King Hedley II", "Fences", "Gospel At Colonus" & "The Piano Lesson" (Black Theatre Troupe, Phoenix AZ), "My Children! My Africa!" (Actors' Lab, Scottsdale AZ), "Confessional" - a one-man play written and directed by former Negro Ensemble playwright Gus Edwards (The Working Theatre, New York, NY), "The Merchant of Venice" and "Julius Caesar" (Southwest Shakespeare), "All's Well That Ends Well" (w/ Michael Learned) and "Othello" (both at Shakespeare Sedona), "The Essential Henry V", "A Christmas Carol" & "White Picket Fence" (Actors Theatre of Phx), "The Comedy of Errors" (New Stage Theatre, Jackson MS), "Shadowlands" & "Much Ado About Nothing" (AZ Theatre Company), "Amadeus" and "Miss Evers' Boys" (Phoenix Theatre), "August in April" (Valdez Theatre Conference, Valdez AK), "Macbeth (Voices of Evil)" (Theatre Artists Studio), "Boesman & Lena" (dir. by Walter Dallas, ASU Theatre/Black Theatre Troupe). He spent 2 years at Childsplay, performing in - among other productions - "La Masquerada de la Vida" which had a run at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Mr. Love has also served on theater panels for the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
As a playwright and member of the Dramatists Guild, he has had readings and productions of a number of 10 minute plays. His full length play "Black River" was given a reading at the Phoenix Theatre New Works Festival, Phoenix AZ in 2009. His full-length play "Default" was read at the Valdez Theatre Conference, Valdez AK in June 2021. "Default" also recieved a virtual reading sponsored by the Dramatists Guild for their DG Footlights 2020 Virtual Reading Series. His play "Moonlight Over L.A." was part of the Connect Virtual Reading Series, 5/2020. "The Losing End", a sequel to "Default", received a Zoom reading by Merely Writers/Merely Players, Atlanta GA on 9/2022. "Black Fire" was also read by Merely Writers/Merely Players, 5/2023. "Dance Into Night" was read by Merely Writers/Merely Players in 2024.
Plays
It's 2004, an election year in an unnamed Southern state. The Democratic U.S. Senate incumbent for over 40 years, Barker Hudson III - 80 plus years & counting - is running for re-election. His challenger is an African American woman - a young 30-something Republican. Barker has had the Southern black vote sewn up in his state for years. And he's sure this election will be another cakewake. But Barker finds that there's a lot more to this particular challenger than meets the eye. A hell of a lot more!
Set in Mississippi in the mid 1950's, Riva, an African American woman, is an abused wife who happens to be carrying on an illicit affair with the Devil . . . or, at least, he is known as such. An adult fable of dreams, nightmares, gay sex, witchcraft and tales of Robert Johnson.
"In the spring of 1981, a young man and a young woman come to a small town in Georgia, from very different places and for very different reasons. The worlds they've left, the world they find, and the worlds they cannot leave behind collide in this compelling play, full of poetry, drama, and vivid characters, from a fresh Phoenix (AZ) voice." - Daniel Shea, Phoenix Theatre New Works Festival
A topless dancer, a former driver for a drug kingpin, the kingpins moll, an ex-boyfriend with the demeanor of a wronged teenager, and his brother - an unapologetic redneck ex-con. Throw in $500,000. in stolen drug money and one has the makings of a long days journey into an endless night.
A noir play set in Los Angeles in 1972 - inspired by the quintessential noir film "Detour" (1945). Joe Barnes is the noir hero in this story of obsession and a murdered lover, the loneliness of city life, seduction and crime.
A contemporary gothic horror story set in the American South.
Set in the "sinful" 1970's, Claire is a beautiful African American woman who just happens to be a highly successful stripper. We see that darkness prevails in her life, however, when she recounts the lingering pain from three lost loves.
Ramsey is a corrupt white cop in a mid-sized city in the South. He's a married man. And he's engaged in an illicit affair with an African American woman whom he claims to have "helped". The woman also has a son. Set in 2012.
Yuma, AZ, 1992. Jess' older brother, Manny, has been released from prison. But he's a "hardhead" who already has plans for his next criminal exploit. Jess' ladyfriend, Rita, tries to be understanding. However, she and her girlfriend, Bobbie - who lives just across the street - happen to have an underworld history unbeknownst to Jess. Yes, everyone has something to hide in this noir tale set in a desert town.
A 1970's fashion photographer is mad with jealousy over his wife. She's engaged in an affair with another man. And he's convinced that the two of them are plotting his murder. Or, are they?
Martha is an aspiring actress in Los Angeles during the early 1980's. To supplement her income, she sells cocaine - nothing grandiose. Just a little here and there to a small network of friends. Soon, her drug dealing operation grows. And the money comes in. Along with everything else!
Serena - a white woman - is an aspiring jazz singer in Los Angeles during the early 1960's. She's searching for her estranged lover, a black woman from the South named Mertie. The search ends with a painful discovery which changes both women indelibly.
Sequel to "Default". Set in 2016, Barker Hudson III has since passed on. And African American U.S. Senator Esther Bailey is running for re-election. But she's in trouble: her poll numbers are down. And her two challengers, a Democratic Socialist & a populist with ties to extremist groups, are ahead of her by double digits. Yet it is her daughter Emily, a writer for a leftist online magazine, who could sway the course of the election. But how?
Eight women meet at a funeral to pay respects to Jimmy Redd - lover, husband, brother, friend. A story of loss, hope, and the lingering pain of love.
Dolores is a successful African American call-girl in Atlanta who happens to be engaged in an illicit affair with a married white lady. Unbeknownst to either of them is the fact that her husband happens to be one of Dolores' clients. Everything comes to a head in a bloody climax in a downtown Atlanta penthouse.
Bethany meets Harris at the jazz night club he owns in New York. And from there . . . they turn the page. This is a short one-act play inspired by the R&B music sub-genre known as Quiet Storm.
A man and his son-in-law establish a bond which is tested through three decades - from the 1960's through the early 1980's, all while recounting, between them, a legendary tale from the Wild American West.
Successes
"Black Fire" - Reading: Merely Writers/Merely Players, Atlanta 5/2023
"The Losing End" - Reading: Merely Writers/Merely Players, Atlanta GA 9/2022.
"Default" - Reading: Dramatists Guild DG Footlights Virtual Reading. 8/2020
"Moonlight Over L.A." - Online reading - Connect Virtual Reading Series, 5/2020
"Black River" - Staged Reading - 2009 Phoenix Theatre New Works Festival