2 min read

Dave Dalton Combines Professional Wrestling and Wagner in The Ring Cycle

Dave Dalton Combines Professional Wrestling and Wagner in The Ring Cycle


Neighbor Dave Dalton’s play The Ring Cycle (Parts 1-4) is running through April 29 at Incubator Arts Project in Manhattan. With Performance Lab 115, Dave directed and co-wrote the play, which adapts Wagner’s operas into the no-holds-barred world of professional wrestling. Of Parts 1&2, the Times said that there’s plenty of “sweaty, smelly grappling,” but that it “transcends cheeky parody to achieve a genuinely haunting potency.”

Before you check out the performance (tickets are available here), get to know a little about Dave in our Q&A.

DPC: What inspired you to adapt Wagner to the world of professional wrestling? Were you a fan of Wagner, of wrestling, or both?
Dave Dalton: I’m not a Wagner fan, but I was totally into wrestling as a kid. I thought of wrestling for the adaptation because I wanted to tell the story of the Ring Cycle in a distinctly American world. The power and grandstanding of wrestling just seemed perfect for the gods in Wagner’s story.

Who’s your favorite professional wrestler?
I was always split between Macho Man and Hulk Hogan. I think wrestling fans in the ’80s were kind of required to like Hulk, but Macho Man had the attitude, and he had Miss Elizabeth in his corner. They were a great combination.

Your wife, Deirdre O’Connor, is a playwright–have you two ever worked together?
Yeah, my wife and I have worked together on several plays, and we’re always helping each other think through ideas for our work. Our current “project” is our 20-month-old son, Dashiell.

Where’s your favorite spot in the neighborhood to sit down and get to work?
I end up doing a lot of writing and brainstorming on my porch on Rugby Road. It’s a really great place to work when the weather cooperates.

What is one of Ditmas Park’s best kept secrets?
I’ll never tell.