Reviewed by Judy Richter
Professional wrestling isn't a
sport. It's entertainment, a form of theater in which each player has an
assigned role, and each move and the outcome are scripted.
That's
one of the messages in "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" by Kristoffer Diaz. Being given its Bay Area
premiere by Aurora Theatre Company, this two-act work has a five-male cast, but it's
essentially a monologue. The speaker is Macedonio "The Mace" Guerra (Tony
Sancho), a
Puerto Rican professional wrestler who has loved what he calls this art form
ever since he and his two brothers watched it on TV in their New York City
home.
Now
he's employed by THE Wrestling, a promotional company run by Everett K.
"EKO" Olson (Rod Gnapp). Mace's role calls for him to make his opponent look
better than he and allow his opponent to win. He takes on an entrepreneurial
role when he encountersVigneshwar "VP" Paduar (Nasser Khan), an athletic Indian American
man whom Mace's brothers met through impromptu basketball games.
EKO
agrees to put VP in the ring, but promotes him as a potential Muslim terrorist
and eventually puts him up against THE Wrestling's champion, Chad Deity (Beethovan
Oden), an
egotistical black man. Before going up against Chad, though, VP is matched up
with The Bad Guy, Billy Heartland and Old Glory, all played by Dave Maier, who also serves as fight
director. Maier also warms up the audience before the show by telling observers
how to react to various characters.
Billed
as a social satire, "Chad Deity" plays on racial and ethnic
stereotypes, but it doesn't work well. Except for The Mace, none of the
characters is anyone the audience can care about, and the plot isn't all that
interesting either, unless - perhaps - one is a fan of professional wrestling.
The script is loaded with obscenities and other street language.
Jon
Tracy directs
the talented cast and orchestrates the action well. Nina Ball's set features a wrestling ring
and two giant video screens within Aurora's intimate thrust stage. The videos
are designed by Jim Gross with lighting by Kurt Landisman and costumes by Maggie
Whitaker. The
sound - often deafeningly loud - is by Cliff Caruthers.
Aurora
usually presents interesting, provocative plays, but "The Elaborate
Entrance of Chad Deity" falls short on both accounts.