If you think professional wrestling’s too fake, you may hold an overinflated opinion of reality. But a play about that sweaty, spandexed world -- The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, presented by Stray Cat Theatre -- places the action on stage, rendering moot any doubts about authenticity. The show (not to mention the “sport”) is also about how real-world conflicts are too complex for our (or our media’s) attention spans, so a cathartic spectacle with clear heroes and villains is just what we think we need. But when a nice Indian-American student is hired to portray a heel called The Fundamentalist, the patriotic, commercial, and genuinely poetic aspects of THE Wrestling collide.
Kristoffer Diaz’ Pulitzer Prize finalist continues through Saturday, May 17, at Tempe Performing Arts Center, 132 East Sixth Street. Catch it at 8 p.m. Friday, May 16, for $22 or $25. Get tix at www.straycattheatre.org or 480-227-1766.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; Thursdays, 7 p.m. Starts: April 25. Continues through May 17, 2014
