THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY Comes to the Imago Theatre in October

Profile Theatre presents The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz as the first play for their 2022-23 25th Anniversary season: The American Generation. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity marries rip-roaring comedy, some of the smartest critique of the American Dream and its access to BIPOC and first-gen Americans...and professional wrestling.

In the wild world of professional wrestling, bruh, there are rules to follow and sacrifices to make! But how far will you go, and what will you give up to live your dream? Mace - a good wrestler, but not the champion- struggles with how racial identities are manipulated, distorted, and stereotyped for the sake of entertainment in an industry he loves. In this side-splitting look at a "great American pastime," glory (and hilarity) can be found in the ring, kiddo, but here there are winners and losers in more ways than you can imagine. The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity will run at Imago Theatre October 4 through October 23, 2022.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is the first production of Profile's two year American Generation season exploring the works of Pulitzer finalist Kristoffer Diaz, "Insecure" and "Jane The Virgin" writer christopher oscar peña and American Academy of Arts and Letters inductee Lauren Yee. The season will feature 9 full productions, including three world premieres and two commissions, one in partnership with Cornerstone Theatre in LA. It is Profile's most expansive and ambitious season to date.

Kristoffer Diaz is a playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and educator. In 2010, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, and the 2011 Obie winner for Best New Play. In addition to other stage works like Welcome to Arroyo's, Diaz has worked on television series for HBO, ESPN, FX, Fox, and Netflix. Our Artistic Director and Director of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Josh Hecht, has this to say about Kristoffer Diaz:

"My belly hurt from laughing so much the first time I read Kristoffer Diaz's fabulous play. And then the tears sprang to my eyes with his gut-punch of a final scene. Anyone who has ever struggled with the personal, ethical and moral sacrifices one must make to pursue the career one loves will recognize themselves in this play. Only the genius mind of Kris Diaz can turn the world of professional wrestling into a scathing critique of America's deeply complicated relationship to its arriving communities. And if you've ever wanted to see some of your favorite actors get power-bombed and super-kicked in the theatre...you won't want to miss this play!"

Portland audiences may know Diaz from his collaboration on the musical The Unfortunates that was originally produced by and developed for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2013. On screen, Diaz adapted the musical RENT into a live event for Fox, and he served as a writer and story editor for the hit Netflx series, GLOW.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity will be the first work from Kristoffer Diaz that Profile Theatre has produced. This Pulitzer Finalist and Obie-winning play was well-received by critics such as the LA Times which said the play, "leaps out of the proscenium frame at every opportunity, exhorting, drop-kicking and body-slamming its way into an immediacy that is more familiar to sporting events and rap concerts than to a traditional night of theater."

This production will be the Portland debut, starring La'Tevin Alexander as Chad Deity, Duffy Epstein as EKO, Matthew Sepeda as Mace.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity will be presented at Imago Theatre, October 4-23. Wednesday through Saturday performances at 7:30pm. Sunday matinees at 2pm on the 9th, 16th, and 23rd. Preview performances are on October 4th, 5th, and 6th at 7:30pm.

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