Grappling with a play about Mexican wrestling

When I pooh-pooh a critically acclaimed show, I generally don’t spend a lot of time second-guessing my reaction. But it bothered me that I was bored watching Lucha Teotl, on stage at the Goodman Theatre through Sunday, because I suspected that cultural unawareness was at play.

In Lucha Teotl (wrestling for the gods), masked, elaborately costumed luchadores representing Aztec gods face off in the ring for family honor and glory. 

I saw Lucha Teotl because I was ushering. Theatergoers obviously were there because they love lucha libre, Mexican professional wrestling and the country’s most popular sport after soccer. Crafting a play dominated by lucha matches and set in a wrestling ring, the cowriters of Lucha Teotl intended to elevate the sport, which I’d never heard of, to “movement theater.”

Who better to chat with about my reaction to the play than my friend Molly Woulfe, the former entertainment writer for the Copley News Service Chicago bureau and the Times of Northwest Indiana?

Marianne: I kept expecting more story development, but there wasn’t much. Mostly it was 1½ hours of wrestling. I have never wanted to watch wrestling because I think it’s violent. Lucha Teotl recreates a real lucha libre experience — body slams, head butts, arm twists, stomping on your opponents. Why should I appreciate wrestling when it’s in a theater instead of a sports arena?

Molly: Sounds like it was more an experience than a show — which some young people would prefer.

Marianne: It was a young audience, and I’d bet that the great majority were Hispanic. There was a story, but I thought it was simplistic, maybe because I didn’t have the background about the tradition. The wrestlers represent Aztec gods and their family’s honor. Having their masks removed, a scenario of the play, is shameful. The main storyline is about tension between the two main characters who have teamed up, but everyone could predict that it would end with reconciliation.

Molly: The Goodman does work very hard to bring more diverse audiences to the theater. Which raises an interesting question: Do we need more diverse critics? Or would [the Chicago Tribune’s] Chris Jones do a good job? 

Marianne: Interesting you should mention Chris Jones because his is the only review that expressed my thoughts. He wrote, “Kudos to the show for delivering the full-blown [lucha] experience. But that begs the question as to whether you want the experience.” Jones’s view may reflect that he’s an older white person like me.  

I think most everyone would say that more diversity — audiences and critics — is desirable. The Goodman is attracting an atypical audience with Lucha Teotl. But I would guess that it also wants to raise the cultural awareness of people outside the group. I might try harder to understand the experience instead of dismissing it as not my thing.

Molly: You are curious and stepped out of your comfort zone by seeing a show targeting a young, Mexican American audience, a show celebrating the lucha libre and Aztec traditions. It wasn't your cup of tea — but it is someone else’s cerveza — and you respect that. That is the hallmark of art appreciation and cultural awareness. 

The best films, artworks, and music and theater productions celebrate universals. Yet these standouts are rare by nature. It's a safe bet that some young Mexican Americans would be bored by plays I like. Vive la différence! We will strike up conversations in lines to exhibits of Frida Kahlo's works.