This review is available online at:
http://www.high5review.org/2010/05/19/wrestling-action-all-on-stage/
Wrestling Action All On Stage!

by William French on May 19, 2010
in Arts Coverage, Theater

Playing on the third floor of the 2econd Stage Theatre was a performance so lively and entertaining, it's almost too hard to describe in words! The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, a Pulitzer-nominated play written by Kristoffer Diaz, is a about a Spanish professional wrestler named Maciendonio "The Mace" Guerra (Desmin Borges) who shares what it's like working for Everett K. Olson (Michael T. Weiss), the CEO of wrestling corporation, "THE Wrestling." Mace doesn't like the boss' ideas all the time, but he still abides by them when he goes in the ring with the wrestling champion, Chad Deity (Terence Archie)....and loses constantly.

Wanting to make it to the pinnacle of his career, Mace recruits a street-talking Indian Boy named Vigneshwar Paduar, or "VP" (Usman Ally), as his wrestling partner. His hope is to steal the spotlight from the narcissistic Chad Deity. However, when the CEO and Chad meet VP, they come up with the idea of making VP and Mace portray American-hating foreigners, bringing stereotypes into THE Wrestling. VP becomes a Middle Eastern terrorist named "the Fundamentalist" and Mace becomes his manager, a Mexican terrorist (name too long to remember), both dressed to look the part.

They make their first few entrances in the mini wrestling ring on stage shouting out to the crowd about how they hate all Americans. They especially "resent" Chad Deity and plan to defeat him. Two big screens standing over the sides of the ring show this live scene at the same time they speak, making it seem like watching wrestling on TV. While the new fundamentalist wrestling duo tries to bring fear to the crowd at THE Wrestling, they also make fun of the racial stereotypes for the audience. This brings a humorous, yet relatable part of the plot and may leave a slight touch of an indignant feeling in people watching the scene.



Chad takes to the ropes.
I get prepared for the action that's about to come after all of this. As Chad Deity and the Fundamentalist get ready for their separate fights, the theater becomes a wrestling arena. Three fights take place. The entrances of Deity, the Fundamentalist and their opponents (all played by Christian Litke), along with the actual fights in the ring make me feel like I'm actually watching the WWE. The stage lights set by Jesse Klug flash brightly in different colors and patterns, the two screens show videos of the wrestlers and the fighters themselves make their dramatic appearances in their own fashions, even if it means getting one or two audience members to help make their scenes look in comparison to the WWE or some other known wrestling federation. All three fights make the audience cheer for the winners.

When it's almost time for the showdown between Deity and the Fundamentalist, VP quits, for he sees how wrong it is that he has to stick with pretending to be a terrorist and gets tired of doing that task. He leaves the federation and watches Mace fight Deity on TV with his girlfriend. When Deity wins and the crowd cheers, the girl says, "Why are they rooting for the bad guy?"

When she said that, I thought about it and said to myself, "She's right." It doesn't seem right that Deity is stuck up and gets all the glory. That's something VP and Mace mention, but VP does what I think is a smart thing to do: leave.

Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is perhaps the best play I've seen. The fights directed by David Woolley were entertaining (and I do like watching a good fight), but another thing I like about it is the dialogue. When the characters speak, at times it is not only quick, but almost like one long sentence. Every time. Even if you don't pick up everything they say, you just love to hear them talk. Kristoffer made a very thrilling production that reminds audiences to speak out when something is wrong and to not continue what you don't feel too comfortable about. This play deserves two thumbs way up.