Philly Weekly Includes CHAD DEITY in Season's Top 10

If you're a regular follower of InterAct, you already know that Kristoffer Diaz's THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY was last season's biggest hit, eventually becoming the 5th best-selling show in our history. You may also know that the play was named as one of the finalists for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and was shortly thereafter received a critically-acclaimed run Off-Broadway in New York, produced by Victory Gardens Theatre out of Chicago. (And if you're not a regular follower of InterAct, you should be... and you can read more about CHAD DEITY's accolades here.) Well, in this week's edition of Philadelphia Weekly, J. Cooper Robb named InterAct's production of the ground-breaking new play one of Philadelphia's Top 10 Productions of the 2009/2010 Season. Seth Rozin was also named as the season's Best Director of a Play for his work on the production. Check out our honors and see what else made the list here.

CHAD DEITY Named as Finalist for 2010 Pulitzer (& Other Cool News)!

Here at InterAct, we're always so proud when a play InterAct originally produced (or the 2nd production, in this case...) goes on to become a breakthrough hit for its playwright. It's happened on few occassions, most notably for InterAct's Playwright In Resident Thomas Gibbons, who saw over 30 national and international productions of PERMANENT COLLECTION and over 35 productions of BEE-LUTHER-HATCHEE since their World Premiere productions at InterAct in 2003 and 1999 respectively.

Now, we are especially pleased to report that Kristoffer Diaz's THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY was announced yesterday as one of the finalists for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Pulitzer.org describes the play as, "a play invoking the exaggerated role-playing of professional wrestling to explore themes from globalization to ethnic stereotyping, as the audience becomes both intimate insider and ringside spectator."

In addition to its Pulitzer nomination, CHAD DEITY is also gearing up for its Off-Broadway debut! Beginning April 27 and running through June 20, 2econd Stage Theatre will present the New York premiere of the play, directed by Edward Torres and featuring Desmin Borges (as Mace), Terence Archie (as Chad Deity), Usman Ally (as VP), Michael T. Weiss (as Everett K. Olson) and Christian Litke (as Billy Heartland). Visit 2econd Stage Theatre's website for information or to purchase tickets.

Finally, CHAD DEITY is currently receiving its 3rd production at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, featuring Shalin Agarwal reprising his role as V.P. from InterAct's production. In its review, TwinCities.com said Shalin, "...has crack comic timing, and although he appears to weigh about half as much as Ansa Akyea, who plays Deity, Agarwal's crazed, charismatic confidence convinces you The Fundamentalist could take him."


Congratulations to both Kris and Shalin... Long live CHAD DEITY!