Photos of the Victory Gardens/ production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Liz Lauren. Top: Christian Litke. Middle: Desmin Borges. Bottom: Borges (left) and Usman Ally.
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is bound for New York, along with the director who brought it to life in its debut staging at the Victory Gardens Theater this past fall. Playwright Kristoffer Diaz’ raucous opus on racism seen through the metaphorical lens of professional wrestling is slated to open in previews April 27 at off-Broadway’s Second Stage Theatre. The production, helmed by Teatro Vista Artistic Director Eddie Torres, will open May 20 and for a month-long run scheduled to close June 20. Whether the original cast will also go to New York remains to be seen. Complete casting and the design team will be announced at a later date. 
As one of 120 scripts submitted for Victory Gardens’ inaugural Ignition Festival, Chad Deity stood out from the start, according to Festival Producer Sandy Shinner.
“Kris’ dynamic language and his passionate look at America’s fears using pro wrestling as his metaphor caught our attention immediately,” she said in a written statement. “As one of the six finalists selected for the 2008 summer Ignition festival, Chad Deity began to generate raves from both audiences and staff even in that first staged reading. Once we committed to mainstage production and added a brilliant design team, the visual fireworks of the show, along with the top-notch acting, brought Kris’ sophisticated ideas to robust life.”
The original goal of the Ignition Festival was to find, develop and present a full mainstage production of a new play by a young writer of color, under 40 years old, who had never had a full production at a major regional theater, then to ignite future productions of the winning play around the country.
Victory Gardens’ world premiere of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was Diaz’s first professional production. His other plays include Welcome to Arroyo's and Guernica, which have been produced and developed at American Theatre Company, The Orchard Project, Hip-Hop Theater Festival, The Lark, Summer Play Festival, Donmar Warehouse, and South Coast Rep. Diaz also was one of the creators of Brink!, the apprentice anthology show at the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays. He is a 2009-2010 Jerome Fellow, and a new playwright-in-residence at Teatro Vista. 
The original cast of Chad Deity included Usman Ally, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Desmin Borges , James Krag and Christian Litke. Designers were Brian Sidney Bembridge, set; Christine Pascual, costumes; Jesse Klug, lights; Mikhail Fiksel, sound; John Boesche, projections; D.J. Reed, props; and David Woolley, SAFD, fight director. Production stage manager was Tina M. Jach.
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