The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

Megan Iacona’s Senior Directing Thesis, written by Kristoffer Diaz

       Megan Iacona’s senior Directing Thesis, Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz opened in Tawes Theatre and ran for two nights. The play follows the talented—but under appreciated—professional wrestler Macedonio Guerra as he tries to make his name in the competitive world of T.H.E. Wrestling. His talent for the sport is also his downfall, as he is made to support and keep face for less talented big-name wrestlers, like the titular Chad Deity. Told mostly from Mace’s perspective through monologue, Chad Diety explores racism, stereotyping, and the validity of the American Dream within not only the wrestling community, but the larger world.

       Iacona was at first unsure of what play she wanted to direct, but gained some focus after a meeting with department chair Michelle Volansky. Iacona was asked “‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” She said in her director’s note, “I knew my answer but didn’t want to answer because of the fear of judgement. It wasn’t until I told myself that I wasn’t going to end up anywhere if I didn’t speak up and fight for my dreams no matter what others thought; ‘I want to work in professional wrestling.’”

       Iacona said that although Volanksy gave her dozens of plays about wrestling, “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety was the one I kept rereading and rereading.” The story stuck with her because “I related so much with Mace because of his fight to be heard and how it is not until he speaks up [that] he is finally delivered… what he’s been fighting for.” Iacona’s favorite part of the process was working with her cast, especially with regards to the personal insight and experience that the actors brought to their characters. She said, in closing, “working on this show for the past year has changed me into a person who is ready to take on the world. And I’m in love with who I am.”

       This was Richie Torres’ ’18 first show at Washington College. He was familiar with the show before auditioning, and interested in the story it was telling. He remembers thinking, “‘whoa this is cool, there’s an underdog, I want to be the underdog!’ So I auditioned…and I remember I put on my audition sheet, ‘I’m Puerto Rican, and I want to be Mace!’” His favorite part of the process was meeting new people. He said, “there were a lot of people I didn’t know, and I was really able to form relationships with [them] that pushed me to be a better performer onstage, and honestly a better person. …Everyone is just so talented, and it inspires me to be extra, and do well.”

       Torres is proud of how the show went, and of his and his castmate’s performances. He said, “When people tell me about my last monologue, it means a lot to me, because that’s my last line, the last big thing that Mace does. I’m finally able to tell my story, and fight back, and be stern, and I was not thinking about audience reactions for this monologue…I just wanted to make sure that I did it justice. I didn’t think about how I would know if I did it justice until Friday night, when I punched Koy, [EKO,] and I heard an applause.”

       Cassy Sottile ’20 initially began as the Props Master, but moved into the Stage Managing position part of the way through the process. She had prior experience managing Dancescape, but said the two were very different. She said her favorite part of working on Chad Diety was when Nick Coveillo ’16 lead the fight choreography. Cassy said, “up until then we were just miming everything…and having Nick come in, we really saw, ‘oh, yeah, this is a wrestling show, this is going to look awesome in the ring.’ …this was something that Washington College hadn’t done before, …we had a ring onstage and that’s our set, not the stage. And it was really cool.”

       Audience-member Gabby Rente ’20 enjoyed the show, and liked “how it rooted for the cultural underdog, and played with the idea of wrestling and racism. I definitely liked how the main character was Hispanic, because we don’t see a lot of that in theatre, or in general.”

Cast List

Macedonio Guerra – Richie Torres ’18

Everett K. Olson – Koy Langless ’19

Chad Deity – Connor Lugo-Harris ’18

Vigneshwar Paduar – Kash Akinsade ’21

The Bad Guy, Billy Heartland, Old Glory – Cody Bistline ’19

Creative Team

Director – Megan Iacona ’18

Dramaturg – John Leslie ’19

Fight Choreographer - *Nick Coviello ’16

Scenic Designer – Kelly Young ’20

Costume Designer – Mari Mullane ’20

Lighting Designer – Rachel Treglia ’19

Sound Designers – Conor Maloney ’19  and Yisi Liu ’21

Projections Designer – Adam Ashcraft ’20

Props Master – Victoria Gill ’21

Assistant Lighting Designer – Rosie Alger ’18

Managers and Crew

Stage Manager – Cassy Sottile ’20

Assistant Stage Manager – Jackie Glenn ’19

Light Board Operator – Spencer Russel ’19

Sound Board Operator – Colin Higgins ’19

Backstage Crew –  Michelle Ly ’21 and Samina Soin-Voshell ’21

Production Staff

Production Manager – Prof. Laura Eckelman

Technical Director – Larry Stahl ’81

Assistant Technical Director – Hannah D’Elia

Scene Shop Assistants – Anna Gjertsen ’18, Megan Iacona ’18, and John Leslie ’19

Costume Shop Manager – Lilly King ’18

Prop Shop Manager – Jackie Dulaff ’20

Lighting and Sound Shop Manager – Katie Peacock ’19

Website and Social Media Manager – Mark Christie ’18

Graphic Designer – Dylan Grimes ’19

House Managers – Jackie Glenn ’19, Adam Ashcraft ’20