 |
This review is available online at:
http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/94561794_Grappling_with_questions_of_race__identity.html?c=y&page=1
Whomp! Oof! Wrestling play packs a punch
Last Updated: 6:56 PM, May 21, 2010
Posted: 2:41 AM, May 21, 2010
  |
If this feels breathless, so is this dynamite show, which is like Tarantino tackling the WWF.
Except that while playwright Kristoffer Diaz shares the filmmaker's gift for snappy dialogue, action sequences and pop references, he avoids Tarantino's callous hipness.
Terence Archie plays ring hero Chad Deity at Second Stage.
READ MORE ON THE POST'S THEATER BLOG
"Chad Deity," the Pulitzer Prize finalist that opened last night at Second Stage, is more than just catchy visuals, laugh-out-loud lines and steroid-juiced guys executing powerbombs. It's a real story -- full of heroes and villains, though you can't tell which is which. That's part of the fun, and part of the moral.
Our motor-mouthed narrator is The Mace (Desmin Borges), a diminutive fighter who's meant to make ring hero Chad Deity (Terence Archie) look good. The Puerto Rican, Bronx-raised Mace grooms his Brooklyn buddy, Vigneshwar Paduar (Usman Ally), to become Chad's over-the-top foe: The Fundamentalist, a bearded terrorist "trained in the deadly MMA -- Muslim Martial Arts." Insert as many exclamation points as necessary here.
That these characters feel so genuine is all the more surprising -- and canny of Diaz -- because wrestlers are fakers, and their industry is about building myths that both anticipate and defy their fans' expectations.
Wrestling is a metaphor for America, Diaz implies. It's all about creating heroes and enemies by manipulating stereotypes, and turning the whole mess into pop-culture fodder.
Diaz has found the perfect accomplice in director Edwin Torres, who also staged the play (with the same cast) in Chicago. When wrestlers make their entrances, the stage explodes in a kinetic orgy of blinding lights and deafening music.
But Torres and his charismatic actors also bring out the text's smarts and emotions, without making them preachy or treacly. Like the best wrestlers, they know that, in the end, it's all about delivering high-impact entertainment.
elisabeth.vincentelli @nypost.com
The Elaborate Entrance of Kristoffer Diaz
6:52 PM, May 21, 2010 | Elisabeth Vincentelli
Kristoffer Diaz's new play "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" (which opened last night at Second Stage) is a total riot. As soon as it was over, I couldn't wait to see it again. It's loud, brash, funny, smart -- Diaz and director Edwin Torres have delivered the total package. The show is packed with vitamins and nutrients and stuff that's actually good for you, and yet it still looks and tastes as if it was pumped solely with sugar and caffeine. How awesome is that?
In case you didn't grow up watching "WrestleMania," the title of the show refers to the ceremonial way pro-wrestlers enter the arena before a fight (or is that a "fight"?). And yeah, there's actual wrestling on stage, with real big guys in real small trunks.
In the production script, Diaz helpfully gives tips to directors as to what kind of inspiration they should look for. Among the classic he-men he singles out: Triple H (behold the king!), Sandman (set to Metallica -- duh) Goldberg (pyro!) and of course Hulk Hogan (a bigger flag can only be found at a car dealership). I may just have to come up with my own theme song, which would blare every time I set foot in a theater. Hmmm...