The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity breaks through the fourth wall

Curious Theatre Company opened its new season on September 1 with the regional premiere of Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, which is both a pure adrenalin rush and a significant aesthetic experience. Chad Deity breaks through the fourth wall like a hurricane and has the audience yelling...

By Juliet Wittman

September 6, 2012

Audio By Carbonatix

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Curious Theatre Company opened its new season on September 1 with the regional premiere of Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, which is both a pure adrenalin rush and a significant aesthetic experience.

Chad Deity breaks through the fourth wall like a hurricane and has the audience yelling and clapping while it tells a story about American culture, artistry and commercialism, truth and lies and the ever-changing immigrant experience.

Mace, a Puerto Rican who's been in love with the sport of wrestling since he was a tyke and who's now a professional wrestler paid to lose in the ring, describes how he makes the firmament igniting star Chad Deity -- who actually can't fight a lick -- look good. Enter a wise-cracking, multilingual young Indian at home in several cultures, who promptly gets cast by the opportunistic manager as a Muslim called the Fundamentalist, out to destroy noble-hearted North American opponents with a single patented move, the Sleeper Cell. Except that this fake fighter has a mind of his own.

This high-octane drama by Kristoffer Diaz -- part rock show, part wrestling match, all pure theater -- is wonderfully acted under the direction of Chip Walton, and supported by stunning technical wizardry. You really don't want to miss it.

The show runs through October 13 at Curious Theatre Company, 1080 Acoma Street, with performances at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. For ticket information, call 303-623-0524 or go to www.curioustheatre.org.

And watch for a full review in next week's Westword. (Because of Labor Day, the September 6 issue went to press last Friday.)

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Juliet Wittman is an investigative reporter and critic with a passion for theater, literature, social justice and food. She has reviewed theater for Westword for over a decade; for many years, she also reviewed memoirs for the Washington Post. She has won several journalism awards and published essays and short stories in literary magazines. Her novel, Stocker's Kitchen, can be obtained at select local bookstores and on Amazon.

Contact: Juliet Wittman