PFP and SIS Present One of Two Pacific NW Premieres of Keiko Green Plays
Following up their Gregory Award winning production of Vietgone in 2024, SIS Productions and Pork Filled Productions present, in association with the Theatre Off Jackson, the Northwest premiere of Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play by Seattle favorite Keiko Green and directed by Mimi Katano, at the Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave. S., Seattle, WA), running September 6 to 20, with a preview on Friday, September 5.
It’s 1999, and Ami is an awkward, Japanese American high school girl, just trying to stay as invisible as possible. But her world comes crashing down with a terrible discovery: her family is responsible for manufacturing MSG, the poison spice getting all the kids hooked. Meanwhile, a mysterious new girl arrives from Japan. Her name? Exotic Deadly and she’s not playing by the rules. Who… or what is she? This whimsical, time-traveling adventure is a riotous romp through teenage crushes, family secrets, and female power as Ami realizes what she’s capable of, if she would just stop being invisible.
”Keiko wrote this play during the pandemic,” says SIS Executive Director Kathy Hsieh, “when she didn’t know if theatre, as we know it, would ever exist again so she went full out and created this wild metaphysical ride of reality crashing into fantasy that is absolutely glorious! The pandemic was also a time with a LOT of anti-Asian sentiment as many in our country blamed Asian people for the start of COVID.
Instagram Post 4×5 Exotic Deadly 1
“I love how Keiko has created such a fantastically fun play that doesn’t shy away from the dark reality of what Asian Americans have always endured. SIS Productions produces plays with humor and heart that reveal the full humanity of Asian American women and PFP produces Asian American genre plays, especially ones that imagine fantastical, inclusive and fun universes – Exotic Deadly is the perfect marriage of a play for us to co-produce together. “
“Besides being a pal to both SIS and PFP, Keiko is one of the hottest playwrights in the country,” says PFP Executive Director Roger Tang. “Washington Ensemble Theatre (WET) is doing Hells Canyon the same time as we are. We’re having a mini-Keiko Green fest—see one Keiko show and can see the other for 25% off. (But see our show first!)
“But that’s not all! The week after we both open, Indianapolis presents Wad and Portland opens her The Bed Trickat the end of the month. Next year, Seattle Children’s Theare opens her new play about Bruce Lee, Young Dragon, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival is presenting You’re Cordially Invited to the End of the World. People NEED to see why!”
The cast includes Karis Ho, Pearl Mei Lam, Josh Kenji, James Lee, Van Lang Pham and Kathy Hsieh, with Julie Chen, Karissa Chin, Joshua Erma, Ken Kavin, Tim Takechi and Maia Low as understudies.
The creative team includes Grecia Leal Pardo and Madelyn Salvucci (production managers), P. Alyda Sorm (stage manager), Jasmine Lomax (fight/intimacy director), Parmida Zaei (scenic designer), Robin Macartney (props designer), Josh Valdez (sound designer), Cassie Bray and Zane Exactly (puppetry designers), Toki Banh (assistant stage manager), Omar Faust (accessibility coordinator), Alegra Batara (social media coordinator) and Patrick Kang (dramaturgy support).
PFP and SIS present Exotic Deadly Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. In addition, there are special shows:
- Special Saturday matinees at 2 pm on September 13 and 20.
- Industry nights Tuesday and Wednesday September 16 and 17 at 7:30 pm
- Relaxed sensory performance Saturday, September 13, 2pm.
https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/pork-filled/sensory-relaxed-msg
Exotic Deadly is rated PG-14 for wild teen girl crushes, occasional profanity, potential time travel whiplash and culinary overstimulation.
Tickets start at $10 (thanks to 4Culture) and can be bought at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/pork-filled/exotic-deadly. Also, remember buy a ticket from PFP and SIS first, and you get 25% off tickets to WET’s Hells Canyon. PFP and SIS are members of Teen Tix. For more info, email tix@porkfilled.com, text (206) 486-0375 or go to www.porkfilled.com.
SIS Productions is an award-winning production company that strives to create, develop and produce quality works that involve Asian American women, their themes, and Asian American issues. SIS Productions encourages opportunities and support for Asian American women to be involved in all aspects of the production of artistic endeavors. SIS Productions is supported by 4Culture, ArtsWA & Melvin Inouye.
The oldest Asian American theatre group in the Pacific Northwest, Pork Filled Productions is an award-winner theatre company that centers Asian American artists to imagine fantastical, inclusive and FUN universes. Through genres of science fiction, noir, fantasy, steampunk and more, PFP envisions bright universes informed by diverse experiences and perspectives, with larger-than-life characters. PFP is supported by 4Culture, ArtsWA, ArtsFund and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
Pork Filled Productions is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike, the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington with the services, resources and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable success.
PFP and SIS Present
PFP and SIS Present
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