Marriage Material Cast on Real Love and Divorce

By Souleo In the new play co-written and directed by Je'Caryous Johnson, Marriage Material, a cast of familiar names (Tank, Jill Marie Jones, T-Boz) explores the theme of what it means to say, "I do." JimmyJazz.com got the chance to pick the brain of the cast members as they talked what's really behind the nation's high divorce rates, how the play made them look at their relationships differently and more.

Tank on why selfishness is behind high divorce rates:

We live in a society that doesn't promote staying together and sacrifice. They push teamwork for sports but not so much for marriages and relationships. It's all about individual happiness. They divided us from that and it carries over into marriages. This plays sheds light on that-to have that mindset helps you stay and work things out and fight for something. Without that belief it's easy to let something like that go.

Jill Marie Jones on how the play has helped her reevaluate relationships:

It made me look at relationships like is that person really for me? Is he hubby or boyfriend? At the end of the day we know but love is not only blind but it's stupid. Sometimes we get swept away by what we think is love but it might not be what we paint it to be.

Je'Caryous on what he's learned about marriages through creating his plays:

I believe if you stay together long enough you fall in and out love and can fall back in if you stay the course. Most of the causes for divorce is financial. Men become insecure in relationships when they are unable to provide because they fill in the blanks of what their own woman's perception of them is and then your reality is manifested. You have to come into marriage from a selfless perspective and keep it fun. You can't forget about each other and become strangers.

Check out part 2 tomorrow where the cast give a quiz on knowing whether or not you're marriage material.

For more information please visit:

www.imreadyproductions.com