Kristoffer Diaz
Kristoffer Diaz is a Puerto Rican-American playwright, screenwriter, musical librettist, and educator from Yonkers, New York. He has a BA from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, an MFA from NYU’s Department of Dramatic Writing, and an MFA from Brooklyn College’s Performing Arts Management Program. Diaz is interested in “El Choque”, a Spanish term he uses to describe the collisions that happen at intersections of different cultural experiences and identities. Diaz writes plays that center on these collisions. He is currently a professor at both Gallatin and the Department of Dramatic Writing at the Tisch School of the Arts , sits on the board of New Dramatists, and is on the council of the Dramatists Guild. His play, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist of 2010, the winner of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play in 2011, and the winner of the OBIE Award for Best New American Play in 2011. Diaz also won The New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award in the same season. Additional awards include the Guggenheim, Jerome, Van Lier, NYFA, and Gail Merrifield Papp Fellowships, Equity Jeff, and the Future Aesthetics Artist Regrant, among others.
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Macedonio Guerra, a Puerto Rican-American pro-wrestler known as “The Mace”, is paid to be the fall guy who lifts up heroes such as the titular Chad Deity, an African-American star who can’t wrestle but is the epitome of success in the professional wrestling universe. Mace resents his role because he is actually a good wrestler, so when he meets VP, an Indian-American athlete, he jumps at the chance to recreate his image as a real wrestler. In order to win the championship however, they must embody some of the worst stereotypes of people of Latin- American and Asian descent. At the final scenes, VP abandons his contract and Mace finally speaks out about the intersection of racism and capitalism. In the epilogue, VP tells us how he saw on television that Mace finally got to speak his truth to the audience, but was still defeated by Chad Deity.
Applications
Epic sports theater for 5 actors of diverse racial identities.
Cross-curricular production possibilities with physical education courses and/or athletic teams of an institution.
Excellent use of sports in a script to relate to students with no prior exposure to theater. This is a play about wrestling that uses and performs wrestling while engaging in conversation about race, respect, honor, social justice, and responsibility.
Potential money-maker for community/institutional theaters because WWE/WWF is such a beloved form of mass entertainment, especially among those who wouldn’t necessarily be theater subscribers.
Great entry point to research on history of the Latin American population in New York City. References to pop culture and major historical events provides a “hyperlink” dramaturgical experience.
Discussion Questions
Who is this play for?
What is the significance of the raisin bread?
What does Mace really want?
What does VP really want?
What does Chad Deity really want?
What is the significance of the final line of the play, “Why are they cheering for the bad guy?”
Why choose wrestling as the subject matter for this story?
Could we tell this story using a vehicle other than wrestling? How?
How does race affect our perception of each character?
VP and Mace are members of marginalized communities in the United States. What is their responsibility to their individual communities as celebrities?
Compare this play to the works of Karen Zacarías.
Compare this play to such films as Sorry to Bother You, Get Out, Okja, or sports films such as Race, Gibsy, Remember the Titans, and 42.
Sample Activity - Our Wrestling Stereotypes
As a warm-up activity, students will create “I am” poems for a character in the play, focusing on how the character defines themselves versus how they are portrayed in wrestling. Once the poem is done, the students will draw a superhero wrestling costume representing how they might be stereotyped and one for how they define themselves. This would ultimately become a comparison activity between, for example, VP the Basketball Star versus VP the Fundamentalist.
Once the guidelines are understood and the play character has been analyzed, the students will move on to a project to draw their own personal stereotype costume and self-definition costume, along with a longer "I am" poem that shows who they consider themselves to be.
Each student will use the following framework:
I am _________(a quality shared with a family member)_______
I am _________(a childhood memory)_______________________
I am _____________(a kind of food)___________________
I am ______________(a color and a texture)______________
I am ___________(a place)__________
People think I am __________(a stereotype)___________________
Someone said I was ______________(a stereotype)________________
I remember being called _________(a stereotype)______________
But I am always ________________________
I am often ________________________
I am sometimes ________________________
I am rarely ________________________
I am ________________________
I am not __________(a stereotype)________________
I cannot be ________(a stereotype)________________
I will not be _________(a stereotype)_______________
Did you know I am ____________________?
I have been ______________________?
I will be ______________________?
I will be _________________________.
I will be _________________________!
For their own personal "I am" poem, the students can use their own backgrounds and interests to show the difference between how they can be stereotyped and how they define themselves. For example, a student who plays sports could perceive that their peers view them as a dumb jock, but in reality they are a superhero artist, or musician, or computer programmer.
As a potential extension of the project, the students can include historical research referencing from where these stereotypes come. Final project layout would include the poem in between the two drawings of themselves. A final presentation day can be done with the class by reading the poem aloud and sharing their drawings and discoveries about themselves, their own histories, and the experience of being othered.
Welcome to Arroyo’s
“You’re in the Lower East Side and not In the Heights,” chant Trip and Nelson, the greek chorus narrators and DJs who frame this Nuyorican play about hip-hop, history, and legacy. Alejandro “Al” and Amalia “Molly” Arroyo mourn the sudden loss of their mother in different ways -- Al converts their family bodega and deli into a lounge to invest in the community’s economy while Molly paints graffiti on the local police precinct. Meanwhile, Lelly Santiago, a college student, is researching Reina Rey, the first woman founder of hip-hop, and has discovered that Rey might have disappeared to become Al and Molly’s mother. Molly unwittingly falls for Officer Derek, a black police officer new to the NYPD, while Lelly and Al try to navigate their own feelings and communicate across class differences. Ultimately, Al allows Molly to turn the lounge into an artist space once a week, Lelly finds clear evidence as to the identity of Reina Rey, but the play ends without revealing it to the audience.
Applications
Comparative Literature: how does Lin-Manuel Miranda use hip-hop as a genre to explore his community in Washington Heights? How does Kristoffer Diaz use the same genre in a play to explore Nuyorican identity in the Lower East Side? Compare and contrast the characters and their goals, as well as the idea of history, legacy, pride and cultural identity in these works.
This play could be used in a community theater, high school, or college setting to provide roles for actors of color in comedic and multidimensional roles.
This play could be used in an acting classroom for monologue or dialogue workshops.
The Upstairs Concierge
The Upstairs Concierge is a play set in Chicago in the style of European farce; Ella, our heroine, is tasked with managing the opening day of the Concept at the Hotelman Arms, a hotel that prides itself on creating a family-home experience for their esteemed guests. She is eager to please the hotel’s owners, Jeffrey and Dia -- hilarity ensues when Ella has too many charges who demand anonymity in rooms without locks and both bellhops become romantically involved with the guests. These guests include a novelist called Shivery Delicious, a blogger called BB, and Rebecca Oaxaca, a viral internet star who is being hunted by MLB recruiters. In a massive chase scene with lost garments, Dia confesses her long-lost love for BB, romantic and sexual encounters are had, and multiple characters end up being secret MLB recruiters. Ultimately, Ella confronts the entire group about their lack of empathy and quits her job, walking away with Rebecca, who she deems the only sincere person of the entire hotel.
Applications
Excellent option for schools and community theater.
Teaches European farce written for characters of color.
Demonstrates an example of a traditional theatrical device using non-white characters.
Opportunity to teach comedy and farce with non-traditional characters and casting.
Requires discussions on the collaborative elements of a creative team to make farce successful on the stage.
Can be used as an introduction to theater for students with little exposure to plays because of its use of baseball as a method of accessibility.
The Unfortunates
A small group of soldiers in a POW camp are found shivering and singing “St. James Infirmary Blues” as they are dragged off stage, one by one, by an executioner. Big Joe, the final soldier left on stage, suddenly enters the Blueniverse (a metaphorical space informed by the song) and discovers his hands have grown into massive clenched fists. He falls in love with the lounge singer Rae, a songbird without arms, but there is an outbreak of a plague before they can pursue a relationship together. Many friends fall ill, including Rae, and the plague doctor is exposed as a fraud who infects people rather than curing them. As Rae dies, she asks Big Joe to accept death as part of life and to face it standing up. The play ends with an epilogue in the POW camp -- the executioner comes in to find Big Joe on the floor, who stands up singing to face his fate.
Applications
Masterclass in American music genres, (similar to Hadestown) giving credit to the black musicians who created them.
Gospel, Blues, Hip Hop, Folk, Rap, Jazz, Ragtime
Design-heavy production: show benefits from the creative elements of magical realism, comic-book aesthetics of the body, and metaphorical settings. Room for experiments in set, costume, lighting, projection, electrics, and props.
Use this play in a classroom to discuss the development of a musical with roles written for people of color, or as a dramaturgical project to show how a musical develops themes and what its influences are.
Plague/pandemic piece of art! Some theaters may be looking for art that fits our apocalyptic times since COVID-19.
Complete List of Works
Full-Length Plays
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Pulitzer Prize finalist 2010)
Hercules (a musical, adapted from the Disney film for the Public Theater)
Welcome to Arroyo’s
#therevolution
The Upstairs Concierge (originally titled Rebecca Oaxaca Lays Down a Bunt)
The Unfortunates (a musical)
Film & Television
Screenplay for FOX’s RENT: Live
Story editor for Netflix’s GLOW
Original television pilots and material for HBO, FX, ESPN
Other works
Reggie Hoops
Brink! (co-creator)
Things with Friends
Swag (or Fucking Vigwan)
Guernica
Going Left
Where has his work been produced, developed, and commissioned?
The Public Theater
Dallas Theater Center
Geffen Playhouse
Center Theatre Group
The Goodman
Second Stage
Victory Gardens
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Actors Theatre of Louisville
American Theatre Company
The Atlantic Theater Company
InterAct
Mixed Blood
The Orchard Project
Hip-Hop Theater Festival
The Lark
Summer Play Festival
Donmar Warehouse
South Coast Repertory
and many others.
Additional Resources
Scholarly Articles, Reviews, and Research Materials:
Aguirre, C. (2020, May 21). This is not a rhetorical question: Neoliberal identity politics in
current casting practices. Howlround Theatre Commons.
https://howlround.com/not-rhetorical-question
Beavers, J., Hurt, C., Merrigan, I., Monsef, R., & Diaz, K. (2013). The Unfortunates. Musical Libretto
(Unpublished).
Bishop, N. S. (2015, Apr 10). New Farce Not All That Funny at Chicago’s Goodman.
Berkshire Fine Arts.
https://www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-10-2015_kristoffer-diaz-s-the-upstairs-concierge.htM
Brantley, B. (2010, May 20). Bodyslam to the American Dream. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/theater/reviews/21elaborate.html
Chow, B., Laine, E., Warden, C. (2016). Performance and Professional Wrestling. Taylor & Francis
https://books.google.com/books?id=STQlDwAAQBAJ
Della Gatta, C. (2015) The Upstairs Concierge by Kristoffer Diaz (Review). Theatre Journal,
Volume 67, Number 4, December 2015, pp. 700-702. Johns Hopkins University Press.
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/605986/pdf
Diaz, K. (2011). The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Samuel French.
Diaz, K. (2015). The Upstairs Concierge. Unpublished Script.
Diaz, K. (2011). Welcome to Arroyo’s. Copyright Say More, Inc. Published by Dramatists Play Services
Inc.
Hsu, H. (2019 Jan 9). In “The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda,” Ishmael Reed Revives an
Old Debate. The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/in-the-haunting-of-lin-manuel-miran
da-ishmael-reed-revives-an-old-debate
Jones, C. (2015, Apr 7). ‘Upstairs Concierge’ is a Manic Mess. The Chicago Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/chi-review-upstairs-concierge-goo
dman-theatre-20150407-column.html
Jones, C. (2009, Oct 7). Brainy slam!. The Chicago Tribune.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-10-07-0910060280-story.html
‘Kristoffer Diaz’. (n.d.) In IMDB. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8453890/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
‘Kristoffer Diaz’. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 9, 2020, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristoffer_Diaz
‘Kristoffer Diaz: Associate Arts Professor.’ (n.d.) New York University Tisch. Retrieved from
https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/dramatic-writing/886326910
Kluber, W. (2018). Character-World Dialectics on the Contemporary American Stage: Gaming,
Role-Playing, and Wrestling with Idioculture. Theatre Journal 70(2), 209-227.
doi:10.1353/tj.2018.0028.
Marsh, A. R. (2012, Apr 16). Focus on a Playwright: Kristoffer Diaz. Breaking Character
Magazine. Samuel French, Inc.
https://www.breakingcharactermagazine.com/focus-on-a-playwright-kristoffer-diaz/
McNulty, C. (2011, Sept 8). Theater review: ‘The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity’ at
Geffen Playhouse. The Los Angeles Times.
https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/09/theater-review-the-elaborate-en
trance-of-chad-deity-at-geffen-playhouse-.html
Miller, H. (2020). Playwrights on television: Conversations with dramatists. Chapter 4: Kristoffer
Diaz. New York, NY: Routledge. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/lib/nyulibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=6039393
Montez, N. (2018). The Heavy Lifting: Resisting the Obama Presidency's Neoliberalist Conceptions of
the American Dream in Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Theatre
History Studies 37, 305-313. doi:10.1353/ths.2018.0015. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/716856
‘Welcome to Arroyo’s: Press Highlights.’ (n.d.) PDF. The Old Globe.
http://pressarchive.theoldglobe.org/PressClippings/Arroyos_PressClips.pdf
‘Finalist: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, by Kristoffer Diaz.’ (2010). The Pulitzer Prizes.
Retrieved from https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/kristoffer-diaz
Wilson, A. (1996). The Ground On Which I Stand. New York City: Theatre Communications
Group, Inc. Published on American Theatre, 2016.
https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/06/20/the-ground-on-which-i-stand/
Witzel, T. (2020, May 19). Where the Wars of Self-Definition are Fought. Howlround Theatre
Commons. https://howlround.com/where-wars-self-definition-are-fought
Images
Costanzo, G. (2014). [Photograph: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins] in Guiducci, Mark (2014, Apr 4).
Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Broaches Race and Family in ‘Appropriate’ at the
Signature Theatre. Vogue Magazine.
https://www.vogue.com/article/theater-branden-jacobs-jenkins-appropriate
Geffen Playhouse Art Design (2011). The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz. [Front
Cover Image]. Samuel French.
Graham, J. (2013). [Photograph Series] The Unfortunates by Jon Beavers, Casey Hurt, Ian Merrigan,
Ramiz Monsef and additional material by Kristoffer Diaz. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Directed by Shana Cooper. Scenic Design: Sibyl Wickersheimer. Costume Design: Katherine
O’Neill. Lighting Design: Jiyoun Chang.
http://pq15.usitt.org/exhibition/scenery/the-unfortunates-sibyl-wickersheimer/#jp-carousel-
Krulwich, S. (2010). [Photograph] The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Christian Litke, left, and
Desmin Borges in this comedy by Kristoffer Diaz at the Second Stage Theater. Retrieved from
Brantley, B. (2010, May 20). Bodyslam to the American Dream . The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/theater/reviews/21elaborate.html
Marcus, J. (2010). [Photograph] Desmin Borges and Terence Archie in the NYC production of The
Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. In article: Dan, Bacalzo (2011). Usman Ally, Terence
Archie, Desmin Borges to Reprise Roles in Geffen's Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.
Theater Mania.
https://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles-theater/news/usman-ally-terence-archie-des
min-borges-to-reprise_39285.html
Marcus, J. (2010). [Photograph: NYC Production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity] retrieved
from Sheward, D. (2010, May 20). Review: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Backstage
Magazine.
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/elaborate-entrance-chad-deity-59903/
New York University Tisch. (n.d.) Kristoffer Diaz: Associate Arts Professor. [Photograph]
https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/dramatic-writing/886326910
Unknown Artist. (2011). Production Photos: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity [3 Photographs]
Geffen Playhouse.
https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/shows/the-elaborate-entrance-of-chad-deity/
Unknown Artist (2011). Welcome to Arroyo’s by Kristoffer Diaz. [Front Cover Image]. Copyright Say
More, Inc. Published by Dramatists Play Services Inc.
Unknown Artist. (2015). The Upstairs Concierge [Banner Image]. Goodman Theatre. Retrieved June
2020 from
http://www.chiilmama.com/2015/04/opening-upstairs-concierge-at-goodman.html
Unknown Photographer. (2009). Production Photos: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Victory
Gardens Theater [Photograph]
https://victorygardens.org/event/the-elaborate-entrance-of-chad-deity/
Unknown Artist. (2013). Poster for The Unfortunates Premiere [Image] Oregon Shakespeare Festival
http://stuckervideo.com/playbill-gallery/
Zimbio (n.d.) Kristoffer Diaz at the Lucille Lortel Awards [Image]
https://www.zimbio.com/photos/Kristoffer+Diaz/26th+Annual+Lucille+Lortel+Awards/JNu
Videos
FilmFreaksbyFilmIsNow (2018 Dec 6). RENT LIVE TRAILER PREVIEW (2019 / Vanessa
Hudgens | FOX Musical Show. https://youtu.be/hVp_5DAkq3E
Rotten Tomatoes TV. (2018 Mar 8). GLOW Season 1 Trailer | Rotten Tomatoes TV
TEDx Talks. (2013 Mar 1). Playwright: Kristoffer Diaz at TEDx Broadway.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2013 Sept 30). Goldberg’s WWE Debut. YouTube.
Information for this web page compiled by Rebecca Azenberg & Cordelia Driussi (2020)