TWO WORLD PREMIERES, ONE WEEKEND AT OLD GLOBE THEATRE.

 Imagine, if you will, two world premieres and both at The Old Globe; one in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre and the other on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage of the Conrad Preby’s Theatre Center. It usually doesn’t happen thus, but the overlapping of yours truly seeing them both in one weekend is coincidental.   

“Exotic Deadly: Or The MSG Play” by Keiko Green is playing through May 7th and is semi -autobiographical, the other “The XIXTH” by Kemp Powers is running through April 23rd, and is more historical/factual based,

“Exotic Deadly Or The MSG Play” is the memory play of a teenager, (Green) dealing with family, friends, prejudices, coming of age, fitting in and her own fantasies.  Directed by Jessica Prudencio and starring Anna Makami as Ami. Ami (Green is Japanese-American) takes us othe roller-coaster ride of our lives dropping in on her anxieties, finding out about her family’s past and working through them, so to speak...the best she can.  It's the  1990's and MSG is highlighting the news. 

Anna Makami as Ami

Life isn't easy for Ami. Her mother, makes her lunch every day filling little bento boxes (they have a strong smell… ‘like farts’) and all she wants is a turkey sandwich or chicken fingers with fries.  She just wants to fit in. Her brother, Kenji, who is supposed  to be the bright star in the family is no help. He’s focused on working on the school’s yearbook for extracurricular credit. 

Anna Makami and Eunice Bae

The drama hidden in the ‘comedy’ is about Ami’s grandfather, who died when she was two.  He invented MSG. What you might ask is MSG? Come-on, you know. It’s SALT, the ingredient in almost all foods.  At the outset, some claimed  it was deadly (Some studies show it might even cause weight gain: damnit)  and for this reason, Ami is filled with guilt, remorse  and shame. She is dead set on redeeming her family name and finding more about her grandfather, ergo the time travel. 

Then, voila a new girl shows up at school, wearing a black leather jacket, big hair, and a smoke dangling from her mouth. Her name, well, no secret, is Exotic Deadly (Eunice Bae). Bae who is an absolute dynamo and energetic beauty who sparkles throughout, debunking Ami’s, or Amy’s, as she now wants to be called, concerns while loving everything Asian. For some reason she feels ordained to be Ami’s best friend even though neither has met before. She plays by a different set of rules. She is positive about all things Asian. The two are direct opposites. Ami is vulnerable when we meet up with her and the other is up front from the outset. 

As time goes on and Ami learns more and more about herself the world view of her family widens, she begins to change her outlook. All this happens in 100 +minutes, too long a sit with no let -up in sight, but there you have it; barely time to catch a breath before another set of zings fly past making it next to impossible for yours truly to keep up. Oh! for those twenty-something years.

The star cast includes:Trevor Salter, Michelangelo Hyeon and James Soel, all playing several characters including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (hysterical especially in Hahnji Jang’s outrageous and colorful costumes). Yu Shibagaki’s scenery with bold colored carpets and sliding step boxes or staircases is innovative. Cha See’s lighting and Fan Zhang’s sound designs round out the picture.  

Cast of "Exotic Deadly"

See you at the theatre. 

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through May 7

Where: Old Globe Theatre’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Balboa Park

Tickets: $29 and up

Photo: Richard Soublet II

Phone: (619) 234-5623

Online: theoldglobe.org

                                                        “THE  XIXTH”

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” 

Take for example the two American Olympic medalists for the 200 meter race(Tommie Smith and  John Carlos) who, in the 1960’s  Olympic games in Mexico City, or the Nineteenth (XIXTH) Olympiad, raised a black glove, wore beads, scarves  and socks,  when the National Anthem was played rather than…well you know the drill. The third, Australian Peter Norman, (Patrick Marron Ball) silver medalist, (he wore a badge for civil rights) were all barred from ever competing in the Olympics and the Olympic Village itself. First Black Gold Medalist, Jessy Owens, advised them against it, but to no avail. 

Fast forward to 2016 when Colin Kaepernick ‘took a knee’ to protest against racial injustice. in September 2017 President Donald trump  said that NFL owners should "fire" players who protest during the national anthem.  Kaepernick became free agent for years robbing him of his livelyhood, humility and personhood. 

Is that insanity or standing up for your rights? 

Martin Luther King advised ‘slow and go’, which in these cases, the waiting game continues even though the Civil Rights Act  (The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.)

Patrick Marron Ball, Biko Eisen-Martin and Korey Jackson

As in the ‘60’s, racial tensions roared. I remember being in L.A. during the Watts Riots, watching in live color the killing of both John Kennedy and Ted Kennedy and the aftermath of  Martin Luther King’s death. I saw with my own eyes all of the above history in the making. It was and is a sorrow-filled chapter our history as much as it is today with the cold blooded killing of George Floyd and. And, and!

Playwright Kemp Powers  (“One Night in Miami”) lays the story out in every detail. From Norman’s funeral to the buildup and breakup of the two Olympians over what really happened in the race (did one let the other win the Gold?) to the simulation of the race, all the way back to their meager beginnings. 

The play is a fast paced one hundred minutes long deftly directed by Carl Cofield, unwinding back to the present with an overall wonderful cast starring Korey Jackson as easy going Tommy and Michael Early as Jesse Owens and Biko Eisen Martin as the high strung trouble maker John Carlos. Mark Pinter is the racist chief of the International Olympic Committee,  Avery Brundage. 

Riw Rakkulchon designed the well used set, Mika Eubanks, retro costumes, Allen Lee Hughes the effective lighting and David R. Molina the sound. 

To the end that BLM, this country has a long way to go educate its citizens and leaders to equal justice for all not just those with money. ‘Nuff  said. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention that anti-Semitism is also on the rise AGAIN.

Coming in late in the run, I would urge everyone to catch this show. It ends April 23rd. 

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through April 23.

See you at the theatre.

Where: The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park

Tickets: $29 and up

Phone: (619) 234-5623

Photo: Rich Soublet II

Online: theoldglobe.org