"The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity"

Kristoffer Diaz is a playwright, dramaturg and educator, currently living and working in Minneapolis, where he is a 2009-10 Jerome Fellow. He was also one of the creators of Brink!, the apprentice anthology show at the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays.Although fairly new on the scene, Diaz is known for "trying new things" and "pushing dramatic theatre to the edge, giving it a new dimension" according to several reviews. He currently holds a BA from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, an MFA from NYU’s Department of Dramatic Writing, and an MFA from Brooklyn College’s Performing Arts Management program. "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" first premired during September 2009 at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. It was a marvelous success and in less than a year, the play was off to the Big Apple running as an Off-Broadway show. It was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (drama-2010) and is one of Diaz's most proclaimed full-length plays.


1. When I read a play, it’s like I’m watching a movie in my mind. I know this may not happen to everyone, but I’m just curious to see how you guys would approach this play if you had to direct it. Describe the set, the elaborate (or dull) entrances, time period (setting), mood, etc.

2. What do you think the acronym “THE” stood for in THE Wrestling and why do you think the play is titled “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” considering all the other elements in the play? Explain.

3. Pro wrestling is unique in many ways, so would you consider it a sport or a theatrical performance?

4. What role if any, do you think race and class play in the play?

5. Do you think that Chad Deity was just Chad Deity, another hyped-up, egotistic superstar or was he a symbol of something more? Explain.

6. EKO is the man at the top bunk, but if you ask me, he shouldn’t even have a bed. Anyway, describe his role and significance (if any).

7. I saw VP as an answer to a desperate man’s prayer because it seemed like he was a younger, much better version of Chad Deity; he was the toy that could move (and apparently, make his own moves). He had confidence in everything he did and he never failed so the guy was basically perfect. I guess what I’m trying to ask is how different do you think the play would be if VP’s mindset and actions were completely different.

8. Throughout the play, Mace is the man behind the curtains who does all the actual work; without him, this world would’ve fallen apart. Of course, it isn’t fair and Mace expresses this to the audience time and time again. Considering his background, how far he has come and the fact that he knows he’s surrounded by idiots (besides VP) and that the business is “unstable”, why do you think he chooses to constantly hold his tongue and go along with everything?

9. Near the end of the play, Deity gives his championship belt to The Fundamentalist (VP), who gives it to Castro (Mace). Castro is then kicked by The Fundamentalist who quits because there’s something “wrong” and he has to solve it. What do you think the problem was? Do you think this event helped Castro become Mace again?

10. At the end of the play (epilogue), VP and his “girl” watch Mace get his ass kicked…again, by America’s hero and the crowd cheers. The girl turns to VP and asks, “Why are they rooting for the bad guy?” I thought this was perfect, so what do you think Diaz was trying to portray with this ending?

11. Did this play, the Barthes reading, or any of the videos we watched in class (or that you watched on your own) change your perspective on pro wrestling? How?

12. Did you like the play? Why or why not? How successful do you think this play will be in the long run?

General Roundtable for Pro-wrestling

Here you go. Comment away.

M. Butterfly

The following post is actually by Elizabeth Cowan. Not Sophie Mauffray-Howell.

David Henry Hwang, an American playwright, was born on August 15, 1957 in Los Angeles, California. He later studied at the Yale School of Drama, and briefly studied at Stanford University with fellow playwrights, Sam Shepard and Maria Irene Fornes.

Hwang’s M. Butterfly was first produced in 1988 on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, but later enjoyed breaking all box office records within its first week at London’s Shaftsbury Theatre in 1989. It is likely Hwang’s best-known play, as it won many awards: the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the John Gassner Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. It was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

M. Butterfly was a deconstruction of Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly and was loosely based on the true story of a French diplomat charged with treason. The diplomat, Bernard Boursicot carried on a twenty-year affair with a man he believed to be a woman during that time; male Chinese opera singer, Shi Pei Pu. During Boursicot’s love affair with Shi Pei Pu, he passed over 150 classified government documents over to her/him, citing he was only trying to “protect the woman [he] loved.” The true sex of Shi Pei Pu was dramatically revealed to Boursicot during his trial, though he refused to believe it until he was offered proof in the viewing of Shi Pei Pu’s body. At the end of the trial, the pair both received six year sentences in prison.

David Henry Hwang was intrigued by the true story, but refused to do further research on the actual events because he was not interested in creating a docu-drama. Instead, he chose to dramatize the events so that he may use his art to challenge the stereotypes between Eastern and Western cultures, and even the relationships between men and women.

1. After reading the play, why do you think it was such a smashing success in London?
2. Do you think further research into the true story would have improved the social agenda of the play? Why or why not?
3. What gender stereotypes are at work in this play? Do you think they’re relevant in today’s society?
4. Hwang directly addresses the stereotypes of Western male desire for Asian women being mostly about overpowering the submissive nature (or so they believe) of Asian women, do you think there is a grander commentary about political relations between Western and Eastern nations? Where, in the play, can you justify this notion?
5. Do you think Rene Gaillimard in fact knew he was sleeping with a man? If so, why do you think he chose to ignore Song’s actual gender?
6. There seems to be a role reversal between the male and female characters when one compares/contrasts the opera Madame Butterfly and the play M. Butterfly. Can you identify these role reversals? What is the irony in this?

Marat/ Sade

The full name being "the Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of Monsieur de Sade"

was written by Peter Weiss. Weiss was a german/ czechoslovakian Jew who lived in Germany. He was originally a visual artist and painter but began writing after his family fled Germany during the Nazi Occupation. All of Weiss's works, like "Marat/Sade" are influenced by Brecht and written to comment on social and political issues. Some of his other works are "Trotsky in Exile," "Vietnam discourse," and "The investigation." “Marat/ Sade” was originally performed in West Berlin at the Schiller Theater in 1964. The show however did not become well known until Peter Brooke, a british director, staged the show that year at the Aldwych Theater in London. Brooke later brought the show to New York. The show received many different reviews, some saying that the show was little more than “shock theater,” others acclaimed the piece. It recieved several awards including a Tony Perry Award, a Lessing Preis Award, and a Drama Critic’s Circle Award for best play.

Weiss said, of his own work, “I myself think that the art should be so strong that it changes life, otherwise it is a failure.”

1. How do Coulmier’s frequent outbursts and demands effect the message of the show?

1. Charlotte’s character is described as a fairly ambiguous character who almost sleepwalks through the performance. Do you think this is a trait of the character in the Sade’s show or is it an effect of the patient who plays her’s disease?

1. How does the Play within a Play style of this show help to impress its meaning upon the audience (not Coulmier and his family)? How is this Brechtian?

1. What is the significance of Coulmier ordering the nurses to beat the patients into submission at the end of the play?

1. How does Sade feel about the Revolution as made evident by his conversations with Marat?

1. It is said that an audience member actually died while watching this show, while many others fell in disgust. How do you think this play would effect you if you saw it performed live?

1. Why is Marat’s struggle and inability to write his thoughts so meaningful to the show?

The prisoners at the asylum chant throughout the entirety of the show “... we need a revolution now!” Do you believe this is a line in Sade’s script or a plea from the inmates at Cherenton?

1. Roux has many issues with the church, as seen in his frequent outbursts. How do you think his prior affiliation with the church he criticizes effects his character’s message?

1. Marat believed that society must change for humanity to change. Sade believed the self must be changed for society to change. Who was right?

free ticket for The Metal Children

I have an extra ticket for The Metal Children, which is the next performance we have to see. The dates and times are listed here on the Theatre website. It's showing in the Reilly Theatre, which (just in case you haven't been there) is located here on Tower Drive. You can e-mail me at holly.dicharry@gmail.com or comment on this post and it's yours.

Even if you don't get/don't want a free ticket, I'd highly suggest buying a ticket ahead of time so you don't have to deal with lines at the door. If you wait until the night of the performance (especially if you wait until the last performance) to get a walk up ticket, I'd advise getting there at least an hour to 45 minutes before the doors open.

Also, for the group who's working on the Marriage of Figaro, it's being performed in the Shaver Thursday March 31st through Sunday April 3rd. I have two tickets, and I can probably get two more tickets from my coworkers, if you'd like to see it for free. Just let me know. :D

In Preparation for Marat/Sade

The trailer for the play (directed by Peter Brook) for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Brecht in Performance

Okay, to answer some of your questions (be they explicit or implied) about whether Brechtian staging actually works, I gathered together some youtube videos so you can at least see what it can look like.

Below is probably my favorite song from Threepenny Opera, "Pirate Jenny" - a song sung by a barmaid who fantasizes about getting the power to lay waste to the men and women who underestimate her. It's a song I love hearing at auditions, actually.

Here's probably the most famous rendition performed by Lotte Lenya, composer Kurt Weill's widow and a favorite actress/collaborator with Brecht. She's a hell of a performer.

I think Lenya's performance gets at what Donovan was having trouble with - the whole "laugh when the characters weep, cry when they laugh" angle. Lenya's Jenny is clearly taking glee in her murder fantasy - smiling as she imagines murdering and laying waste to the town. By the end, though, Lenya skillfully takes you out of that joy of watching someone sing a song in a musical - it's chilling and disturbing, to me at least, when she smiles like a saint and wishes herself away.

Here's another piece from Threepenny Opera, "The Pimp's Tango" (here performed by Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper at the 2006 Tony Awards). Note that the song is a lovely, sexy number about a man who forced his girlfriend into prostitution to support him, then forced her to get an abortion.

How are we supposed to respond to this? On one level, it's a memory piece - but what they remember is pretty horrifying, although the nostalgia in the song takes it and complicates it.

Here are two performances of The Threepenny Opera's "The Army Song" or "Kanonensong" for you to hear:

This is in English. Listen to the lyrics.

Here it is in German. Note that the orchestration is weirder (it was Americanized so it could play to American audiences when the show was brought to America). Also, note how the lyrics work in German, I don't assume you speak German, but you can hear the rhythm and ways that it better interrelates with the music.

*****

Other clips I've found that might be helpful follow.

The above is a clip from the BBC documentary "Brecht and Epic Theatre," and contains the weep/laugh quote.

This is clip number 1 of a 3 part BBC documentary on Brechtian theatre. Watching all three might be really helpful.

Brecht Essays

Brecht Essays - "The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre."

39 Steps

Ok, here's the info about the off-broadway show, The 39 Steps, which is coming to the Manship Theatre Monday and Tuesday night... I'm copying and pasting the email I got, so nothing gets lost in translation... Oh, and by the way, the actual tickets are $45! So this is SUCH a great deal!!!

We would like to offer you and whoever you would like to bring a special student Rush ticket for $10. Please pass around to whoever else you might think would be interested.

Performance are Monday & Tues of next week at 7:30 pm.

Have anyone interested call the box office and mention student rush.

Yall, seriously... This play is out of control... I loved it. I'm going once, if not twice... Ok, that's all. Hope to see you there! Let me know if you have any questions!!!

The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde was an Irish Poet/Playwright in the second half of the 19^th century. His writing skill, as well as his somewhat flamboyant mode of dress and charming wit, quickly made him one of the most recognizable faces in British high society. The Importance of Being Earnest premiered during the height of Wilde’s career on February 14, 1895 at the St. James Theatre in London to general goods reviews. Many critics recognized that the play was undoubtedly clever (and popular with audience members), but most were frustrated with the fact that it did not really touch on any important political or social issues. While this is true, the play does have an interesting commentary on Victorian high society and even goes so far as to mock marriage, a very highly regarded social institution at the time.

“The Well-Made Play” is a genre developed by the French dramatist Eugene Scribe in the early 19^th century. Two of the major features in it are a quick conclusion after the climax of the play and the use of misplaced papers to bring about plot twists. Wilde exaggerates both of these themes in Earnest. The missing papers concept is exaggerated when the play’s protagonist, Jack (Earnest), is mistaken for the manuscript of a novel and misplaced. Furthermore, the play itself closes very sharply after the final climactic revelation that Jack is, in fact, Algernon’s brother.

The Staging of this play can be seen as the climactic point in Wilde’s career as an artist, but it was also the beginning of his downfall. On February 18, 1895, Wilde was accused by John Douglas, the Marquees of Queensberry and the father of Wilde’s lover, fellow poet Alfred Douglas, of “gross indecency with another man” or sodomy, a federal offense in Britain at the time. Wilde was publicly humiliated during this trial as not only did it expose his relationship with many male prostitutes, but the verdict also left him completely bankrupt. Soon after this first trial, the crown took Wilde to court only a few weeks later on the same charges and Wilde was imprisoned for two years. After being released, Wilde found himself cast out of English society and fled to France where he spent the last 3 years of his life living in extreme poverty under an assumed name.

1. Many people have pointed out that the names “Earnest” was a euphemism for homosexual in Victorian England and have used that claim that the play had a homosexual subtext. Do you think that this is true?

2. Do you think that it is necessary for a play to involve the discussion of “serious social or political issues?” Why or why not?

3. Many of the social pretenses the Wilde pokes fun at were based either in large or small part in Christianity (marriage, Christening, etc.). Yet, on his deathbed, Wilde officially converted to Roman Catholicism. How can these two facts be justified?

4. Do you think that this play, which was written as a satire of Victorian era high society England, has any relevance in modern day, 21^st century America?

5. Do you think there is any significance to Wilde setting the play in “the present” rather than saying 1895 or so?

6. One of the major themes of the play is the triviality of high society. What is the significance of Lady Bracknell’s last line, “My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality?” What, exactly, is she referring to?

7. One of the things that make this play so endearing to audiences is the dialogue, which is full of witticisms and contradictions. Discuss some examples of dialogue where this is evident and why you think Oscar Wilde included them.

8. Do you think that the exaggeration of the Well-Made Play is significant to Earnest?

Ubu Roi

Ubu Roi is probably the most widely known work of writer Alfred Jarry. Jarry began as part of the symbolism movement in France. He fell in with this crowd and worked and worked at the Theatre L’Oeuvre, a famous theatre that was eventually the first to produce Ubu Roi in 1896. When Ubu Roi was first put on, the opening night caused a riot, now known as the Ubu riot, because of the vulgar language and overall nature of the play. It was shut down immediately after opening night and was not revived again for over 10 years. Although Jarry wrote other plays, including several more with the character of Papa Ubu, he could never distance himself from his first work. He eventually fell into drinking absinth, and in later life he was said to have started acting like Ubu, perhaps even believing he was the character. He died of tuberculosis in 1907. His second most famous work, Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician.

1. 1. The riot induced by Ubu inspired later avant guarde movements to try and get a rise out of their audience. In this way, Jarry was very influential in movements to come. Artaud even named his short-lived theatre after Jarry. Talk about why you think this one play had so much influence and staying power in a movement that lasted for many more years.

2. 2. Though he started with the symbolists, Jarry actually developed his own movement within the first wave avant guarde, known as pataphysics. Why do you think he was so eager to label himself differently from his peers, especially since his movement seemed to be a one-man movement?

3. 3. Jarry subtly changes a lot of words in his writing. For example, in the original French, the characters said “merdre” instead of “merde.” He also made up many words by combining other words. Why do you think he changed these around, and was not happy with just using the regular French vernacular, especially in the case of “merdre” which is a subtle variation on a swear word?

4. 4. The characters in this play use a lot of phrases that seem to be nonsensical, such as “by my green candlestick.” Pick a phrase and discuss what you think it is referring to or means.

5. 5. It is commonly mentioned that Jarry referred to several Shakespeare plays, including Macbeth, Hamlet, A Winters Tale, and Henry IV. Pick a reference from the play and discuss where in Shakespeare’s cannon it is from.

6. 6. Jarry’s original concept, and several staging’s of Ubu Roi involved marionettes or puppets instead of actors. Discuss how this would aid or hinder the telling of the story.

7. 7. Ubu is considered to be the first “antihero.” Discuss what you think this means, why it applies to Ubu, and give an example of an antihero that has come about since.

Polaroid Stories

Here you go. Discuss away.

-Neal