The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is a dramatic comedy play by Kristoffer Diaz about a professional wrestler, "driven by narratives of the American dream and neoliberal capitalism."[1]

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Written byKristoffer Diaz
CharactersVigneshwar Paduar
Chad Deity
Macedonio Guerra
Macadamia
Billy Heartland
Old Glory
Everett K. Olson
Date premieredSeptember 25, 2009 (2009-09-25)
Place premieredBiograph Theater
Original languageEnglish
Genredramatic comedy

Synopsis

Act One

Macedonio Guerra is a professional wrestler at THE Wrestling. Despite being the superior wrestler Mace is delegated to playing the heel to the champion, Chad Deity. Everret K Olson, CEO of THE Wrestling, capitalizes on racial stereotypes to win support from the audience. Tired of being “the guy who loses to make the winners look good,'' Mace recruits Vigneshwar Paduar (VP) to THE Wrestling. Unable to fit the racially ambiguous VP into his show, Olson initially refuses. But with the help of Chad Deity, Olson brings VP on as The Fundamentalist, with Mace playing his partner, Che Chavez Castro. The pair, billed as anti-American extremists, quickly become fan favorite villains. Act One ends with The Fundamentalist calling out Chad Deity on stage.

Act Two

THE Wrestling begins building a rivalry between Chad Deity and The Fundamentalist. Mace and VP begin working on a finisher for The Fundamentalist, settling on a superkick title the Sleeper Cell. After initially freezing, The Fundamentalist KOs Billy Heartland with a single kick. Next week he does the same move against Old Glory, becoming more arrogant with every win. Olson picks The Fundamentalist to become the next Champion but, to Mace’s dismay, VP decides to leave THE Wrestling. Needing Mace to step up in his place, Olson allows him to perform as himself.

Epilogue

VP watches the fight from his home in bed. He is happy to see Macedonio Guerra on stage, not Che Chavez Castro. In the final moments of the play, Mace is powerbombed by Chad Deity. Prompting his girlfriend to ask “Why are they rooting for the bad guy?”[2]

Production history

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity had its world premier at Chicago's Biograph Theater on September 25, 2009 in a Victory Gardens Theater production starring Usman Ally (Vigneshwar Paduar), Kamal Angelo Bolden (Chad Deity), Desmin Borges (Macedonio Guerra), Jim Krag (Everett K. Olson), and Christian Litke (Billy Heartland, Old Glory).[3]

Directed by Edward Torres, Designed by Brian Sidney Bembridge (scenery), Jesse Klug (lights), John Boesche (projections), and Christine Pasquale (costumes)[4]

Criticism

Variety (magazine) published a positive review of the original production at the Biograph Theater, complimenting the "vigorous physicality and wickedly intelligent humor." Critic Steve Oxman commented that "[Kristoffer] Diaz has found a vehicle to tell a much deeper narrative about how our culture digests racial identity, and how commerce, as well as commercial storytelling, is at its core about generating passion, with the exploitation of our baser instincts often the easiest means of doing so."[3]

The New York Times said the production at the Off Broadway Second Stage Theatre "has the delicious crackle and pop of a galloping, honest-to-God, all-American satire."[5] The New York Daily News called the same production, "flashy, fleshy and ridiculously entertaining".[6] The Los Angeles Times said the play "leaps out of the proscenium frame at every opportunity, exhorting, drop-kicking and body-slamming its way into an immediacy that is more familiar to sporting events and rap concerts than to a traditional night of theater."[7]

Awards and nominations
  • Winner 2008 National Latino Playwriting Award[8]
  • Finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[9]
  • Winner 2011 Obie Award for Best New American Play.[10]
  • New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award to Kristoffer Diaz (for Chad Deity) in 2011 [11]
  • Henry Hewes Design Awards Nomination for Best Scenic Design Brian Sidney Bembridge [12]
  • Henry Hewes Design Awards Nomination for Best Production Design Brian Sidney Bembridge, Jesse Klug, Christine Pasquale, Peter Nigrini, and Mikhail Fiksel [12]
  • Chicago Jeff Awards (2010) for Best New Work, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Fight Choreography
gollark: Wow, 819 pages of thing.
gollark: These axes make no sense!
gollark: Consequentialism doesn't imply revenge, what even, who designed this.
gollark: Why does it put me on the *deontologist* end of this axis? What?
gollark: Well, I can if I read the code.

References
  1. Montez, Noe (2018). "The Heavy Lifting: Resisting the Obama Presidency's Neoliberalist Conceptions of the American Dream in Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity". Theatre History Studies ;Pleasant Hill. 37: 305–313, 359.
  2. Diaz, Kristoffer (2011). The Elaborate Entrance of Chade Deity. Samuel French. ISBN 978-0-573-69967-2.
  3. Oxman, Steven; Oxman, Steven (2009-10-13). "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity". Variety. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  4. Year Zero and Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Bloom at Victory Gardens,playbill.com, September 23, 2009
  5. Theatre Review: Body Slam to the American Dream, New York Times, May 21, 2010
  6. 'The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity' review: Kristoffer Diaz's wrestling ring packs a punch, New York Daily News, May 20, 2010
  7. Theater review: 'The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity' at Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2011
  8. Playwright Diaz wins ATC's 2008 Latino award, Latino Perspectives Magazine, January 2009
  9. 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Drama
  10. OBIE winners, 2010–2011 Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Times’s Outstanding Playwright Award Goes to Kristoffer Diaz, New York Times, June 21, 2011
Other Productions
Theater Location Date Ref.
InterAct Theatre Company Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 2009 [1]
Mixed Blood Theatre Company Minneapolis, Minnesota April 2010 [2]
Second Stage Theater New York City, New York May 2010 [3]
Geffen Playhouse Los Angeles, California September 2011 [4]
Actors Theatre of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky January 2012 [5]
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Washington, D.C. September 2012 [6]
Curious Theatre Company Denver, Colorado September 2012 [7]
Dallas Theater Center Dallas, Texas October 2012 [8]
Carolina Actors Studio Theatre Charlotte, North Carolina April 2013 [9]
Capital Stage Sacramento, California July 2013 [10]
Barebones Productions Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania February 2017 [11]
Play-PerView Online reading via Zoom August 2020 [12]
  1. Review of Chad Deity, By J. Cooper Robb, Philadelphia Weekly, November 3, 2009
  2. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Mixed Blood Theatre, By Janet Preus, howwastheshow.com, April 9, 2010
  5. Actors Theatre's 'Chad Deity' looks into world of wrestling, The Courier-Journal, January 6, 2012
  6. Woolly Mammoth goes to the mat with “Chad Deity”, by Peter Marks, The Washington Post, September 12, 2012
  7. Curious Theatre Company stages a smackdown with wrestling play "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity", by Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post, September 14, 2012
  8. Like Wrestling, Chad Deity‘s Brawny American Allegory Isn’t Subtle, But It Sure Is Exciting, Theater Review by Lindsey Wilson, Frontrow Magazine, October 29th
  9. Toppman, Lawrence (February 26, 2013) “CAST pins 'Chad Deity' to the mat”, Charlotte Observer
  10. Bitker, Janelle "Capital Stage opens wrestling satire 'Chad Deity', Sacramento Bee, July 14, 2013
  12. https://www.playbill.com/article/pulitzer-prize-finalist-the-elaborate-entrance-of-chad-deity-gets-virtual-reading-august-15
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