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Opinionist: <em>The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity</em>
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 6, 2010
Modified Jun 6, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 6, 2010
Modified Jun 6, 2010
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The plebeian theatrics of professional wresting serve as an electrifying metaphor for mass media manipulation in Kristoffer Diaz's exuberant satire The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Instead of dismissing professional wresting as white trash pabulum, the "sport" is presented as a fauvist art form, seen through the eyes of fast-talking narrator Macedonio Guerra, a shrimpy Nuyorican wrestler who's living out his childhood dream of bouncing off the turnbuckles, playing the loser foil to stars like the ripped Chad Deity, a sort of Hulk Hogan meets Kanye West star. Because Guerra (Desmin Borges) is a self-taught master of all the tricks, he's paid by impresario Everett K. Olson, (AKA Vince McMahon) to make Deity look like the champ.
But when Guerra tires of seeing the egomaniac Deity (played by the hilariously ripped Terence Archie) get all the glory while he gets all the backaches, he tries invigorating the sport by recruiting an Indian-American kid from Carroll Gardens named Vigneshwar Paduar (Usman Ally). Bringing Paduar to the boss, Guerra tries to convince Olson that what pro wrestling needs is more ethnic flavor. Olson also sees dollar signs tattooed over Paduar's brown skin: He slaps a ridiculous bin Laden beard on the kid and calls him "The Fundamentailst," and costumes Guerra in a sombrero and toreador vest, giving him the stage name "Che Chavez Castro."
The duo's humiliating rise to the top is a hilarious parody of meat head American xenophobia in the age of Al Qaeda; as the two ridiculously racist caricatures stare menacingly out from the ring, the peanut gallery is at first too frightened to boo, only flying into shocked outrage when The Fundamentalist sacrilegiously spits on a poster of Deity. It's a rowdy, ludicrous, and high-octane send-up of classic show biz exploitation, and if the satire is a bit broad at times, Diaz's dialogue is crisp enough to keep the show taut. (His play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize this year.) The ending is surprisingly earnest (if a little ham-fisted), and Borges's hyperventilating, spoken-word speech mannerism gets a tad tedious, but the inspired premise and vivid execution are so lively you wouldn't dream of leaving the ring.
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chad deity
opinionist
review
theater
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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