In his book on the topic of theatrical criticism, Strategies of Drama, Oscar Brownstein states that art is the “creation of experience”, as the audience is tasked with finding the meaning(s) behind a play’s script in much of the same way its playwright must place their intended meaning(s) within the text. As a result, the audience’s ability to follow along with and fully experience a play becomes tied to what Brownstein refers to as “perception shifts”, which act as the underlying base for dramatic works. These perception shifts indicate when the audience begins to grasp certain pieces of information given throughout a play in addition to their ability to digest, react to and reflect on the text. When considering a play as interactive and multi-layered …show more content…
At its beginning, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity presents itself as a lighthearted experience that will leave the audience entertained but unmoved. However, as the text states that things that take place in the ring are fake and Macedonio’s “American Dream” of making it in the world of wrestling is riddled with inconsistencies and leaves him at a significant disadvantage, the audience comes to the realization that the play is a lot deeper than the spectacle surrounding it. Diaz both overtly and subtly utilizes the Brechtian verfremdungseffekt so that it isn’t lost on the audience when the play’s characters “wrestle” with ideas on race, nationality and the human ego but that they’ll also be able to laugh at otherwise uncomfortable (usually offensive or racist) scenes. Even though the journey abruptly goes from high (light, funny) to low (blatantly stereotypical and problematic), the audience is still given room at the end of their journey to hope for a better future for world of wrestling. When The Mace is unsurprisingly beaten by Chad Deity at the play’s end and his girlfriend asks “why are they cheering for the bad guy?” (page 63), the audience can again feel some optimism and hope that other audiences will similarly open their eyes to the falsity of the American Dream, media’s harmful portrayals of “others” and wrestling’s outdated way of presenting ethnic