Exotic Deadly: or The MSG Play
A Japanese-American Teen Girl Confronts Challenges
By: Victor Cordell - Feb 06, 2025
Primacy effect refers to the cognitive bias that suggests individuals remember vivid, first-presented information better than subsequent findings. For this reason, Donald Trump pumps out volumes of misinformation, knowing that even if corrected, many observers will better remember and accept what they first heard. In a more scientific context, primacy effect is behind anti-vax beliefs, as news of vaccines’ causing of autism preceded refutations. The same is true of the bad rap that monosodium glutamate (MSG) has suffered. Even though proven that MSG doesn’t cause headaches and nausea, the erroneous belief by many consumers continues.
Exotic Deadly: or The MSG Play draws on playwright Keiko Green’s life experience with a Japanese anime, American ‘90s pop culture, and sci-fi driven play full of over-the-top hilarity and fanciful fantasy from beginning to end. Director Jesca Prudencio and a stellar cast of six keep the laughs coming, yet there are some serious social underpinnings to the proceedings.
The half ethnic Japanese playwright learned as a teen that her grandfather was a scientist at Ajinomoto where MSG was isolated for commercial manufacturing. It was not created, as it naturally occurs in tomatoes and mushrooms, while it also results from the transformation of milk to cheese. Most consumers don’t realize how ubiquitous it is in processed foods from Campbell’s soup to Doritos.
The central action of the play occurs in 1999, and 14-year-old Ami as the proxy for Green, wants to fit in, to be average. She is already embarrassed by the bento boxes that her mother prepares for her lunches at school, which classmates have described as stinky like farts. But then comes the vilification of MSG and Ami’s guilt by association. An anecdotal letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1968 had posed the possible poisonous effects of MSG in what came to be known as the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Never mind that MSG was scientifically exonerated. The damage was done, and the falsehood lives on.
The play cascades with ease among time frames within the whole of the 20th century and diverse locations from Japan to the bottom of the ocean. Realistic situations are punctuated with herky-jerky anime action, dreamy musical interludes, and faux martial arts sequences, and it all works.
Ana Ming Bostwick-Singer impressively delights as the highly animated youth Ami with flailing arms and unlimited mugging expressions as she muddles through her challenges. The other big star is Nicole Tung who impresses immensely playing two different key roles. As Ami’s mother, she is purposeful, dour, and wry, focused on providing Ami good nutrition and encouraging her to be more like her brother who excels academically. As Ami’s teacher, Tung brings a whole new set of verbal and facial expressions that reflect how good she is at her craft.
Also important to the narrative are the title character, Ami’s rebellious new schoolmate Exotic Deadly, and the anthropomorphised MSG, both played with wacky allure and enthusiasm by Francesca Fernandez. Phil Wong, Edric Young, and James Aaron Oh round out the fantastic ensemble, each playing multiple parts with unrestrained verve and zany comic zeal.
While the comedy zips along, the story is replete with messages. Ami reveals the angst of being a lonely and conflicted teenager, having challenging relationships with her mother, brother, and teacher. Racism is reflected in the attitudes toward MSG and Ami’s bento boxes. And even the scientific method is brought into question. The runaway victimization of MSG in the scientific and broader communities was based on false-correlation anecdotes and reports on confirming research that was exceedingly sloppy, along with failure to publish well-executed disconfirming studies. (Note that Chinese consume almost four times the amount of MSG as Americans, but someone forgot to tell them to have headaches and nausea.)
Keiko Green’s script hits the spot on virtually all counts, though funny bits about Ben and Matt, based on Affleck and Damon, seem contrived. Everything about the production is first rate, starting with Prudencio’s masterful pacing and facilitating outstanding performances from every actor. Heather Kenyon’s simplified staging fits the anime motif perfectly while Michael Oesch’s brilliant lighting, James Ard’s outstanding sound design, and Kathleen Qiu’s diverse costumery round out the sparkling look and feel. This lively romp will have great appeal to a wide array of theater goers
Exotic Deadly: or the MSG Play is written by Keiko Green, produced by San Francisco Playhouse, and plays on its stage at 450 Post Street, San Francisco, CA through March 8, 2025.