Less than 24 hours after President Trump’s racist “shithole countries” comment about immigrants from Haiti and Africa set the news cycle and the national conversation on fire Thursday, Miami New Drama artistic director Michel Hausmann reacted. Late Friday afternoon, he posted “Colony Theatre/Proudly Represents/Artists from Sh!thole Countries” on the theatre’s marquee, sharing a photo on Facebook.
The post went viral, reaching over 60,000 people as of Tuesday morning, shared by hundreds, sparking a passionate debate online and around Miami. The Miami Herald published a story the same evening, quoting Hausmann on the furor. “The moment we heard the president’s quote, we knew we needed to bring it out into the conversation. We are committed to having immediate conversations about what’s happening in our city and in our country.”
The marquee’s statement dovetails perfectly with the themes of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, our next show, a comic satire of racism and political manipulation in the world of pro wrestling. When we said Chad Deity was “a play for America today” we didn’t realize just how true that would be.
