Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play Bios

Keiko Green (she/her)(Playwright) is a playwright, screenwriter and performer, based in Los Angeles and Seattle. Productions include: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! (South Coast Rep; Oregon Shakespeare Festival – Upcoming), Empty Ride (Old Globe), Young Dragon (Seattle Children’s Theatre, Kennedy Center – Upcoming); Gorgeous (Raven Theatre), Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (Old Globe; San Francisco Playhouse), Hells Canyon (Theater Mu; Washington Ensemble Theatre – Upcoming), The Bed Trick (Seattle Shakespeare Company; Artists Repertory Theatre – Upcoming); Wad (American Lives Theatre – Upcoming), Sharon (Cygnet Theatre), and Hometown Boy (Actors Express; Seattle Public Theater). Her plays have been developed by the Old Globe, the Kennedy Center, the National New Play Network, Playwrights Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, and twice by the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Past and Current Affiliations: CTG Writers Workshop, Geffen Writers Group, Seattle Rep Writers Group, ACT Core Company, Chance Resident Playwright, Theater Mu’s Mu Tang Clan. She currently holds commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan Foundation and Atlantic Theatre Company. Awards/Honors: Susan Blackburn Award Finalist, Kilroys List, San Diego Critics Circle Award (Outstanding New Play), Gregory Award (Outstanding New Play), Sound on Stage Award (Outstanding New Play). As a screenwriter, she has worked on multiple projects, including Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown” and Apple TV’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.” As an actor, she has performed at theaters nationwide and originated the role of Connie in Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap at the Denver Center and Seattle Rep. BFA: NYU Drama – Experimental Theatre Wing, MFA: UCSD Playwriting.

Mimi Katano, director (she/her) is a director, choreographer, and an occasional actor in Seattle and the former Executive Artistic Director of Youth Theatre Northwest. Mimi’s other directing credits include; Centerstage Theatre, Seattle Public Theatre, SIS Productions, Live Girls! Theatre, 14/48 Projects, and Boston’s Wheelock Family Theatre. Aside from directing, Mimi has done cultural consulting for Seattle Children’s Museum and Book-It Repertory Theatre. Mimi co-wrote a play on Japanese-American incarceration, Justice at War, which was produced at The Courtier Theatre in Kansas City in 2023, and has been performing on tour by Boston’s Theatre Espresso for nearly 30 years. Mimi’s passion is to bridge her native country of Japan and the U.S. through theatre and has brought theatre artists to and from Japan and has cultivated internship opportunities for Japanese college students. mimikatano.com

Cast

Karis Ho (she/her) (Ami) is a Hong Kong American actor, musical improviser, and multimedia storyteller. She is a company member of Dacha Theatre and Jet City Improv, and has performed with Yun Theater, Pork-Filled Productions, Seattle Public Theater, and Seattle Rep Public Works.

Kathy Hsieh (she/he) (Mom, Ensemble, Co-Executive Producer) is an award-winning theatre artist, actor, playwright and director who has worked with many theatres locally and beyond. Most recently she was seen in PassinArt and Portland Playhouse’s co-production of Yohen, 14/48 Productions’ 14/48 Festival and Seattle Shakespeare’s Drum & Colours’ The Comedy of Errors.

Pearl Mei Lam (Exotic Deadly) is an actor and comedy writer who has performed with Seattle Shakespeare, ComedySportz, the You’re Wrong About and American Hysteria podcast tour, and Seattle Public Theater, where she received a Gregory Award. She recently wrapped principal photography on her debut feature, Wild Ragerz (@wild.ragerz). pearlmeilam.com

Josh Kenji (Ben, Ensemble) (he/they) is a Seattle actor and artist celebrating stories that reveal what’s vibrant, overlooked, and deeply human. A graduate of UW in Drama, Musical Theatre, and Voice Performance, he’s performed with Seattle Rep, ACT, 5th Ave, Sound Theatre, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Village Theatre, and Freehold Engaged Theatre, and more.

James Lee (Kenji, Ensemble) is thrilled to work with Pork Filled and SIS Productions again after understudying in Vietgone last year. He is a multidisciplinary performer who loves works with vulnerability, playfulness, and queerness. Acting credits include Here and Their (David), The Master and Margarita (Ivan Homeless), and Hotdish (Toby). Instagram: @dogtorjames

Van Lang Pham (Matt, Ensemble) (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary artist who has acted, sung and played music around the Puget Sound and is a company member at Pony World Theatre. A second generation Vietnamese-Chinese American, born and raised in Missoula, Montana, he is an alumnus of the University of Puget Sound

Julie Chen (Ami u/s) is an undergraduate student at the University of Washington studying Biology and Drama: Performance. Recent credits include Jean/nes Understudy in Thrive, or What You Will (UW School of Drama) and Bo Blaster in Space Princess Wars (UW UTS).

Karissa Chin (Exotic Dealy u/s) Originally from Ohio, Karissa is a new actor in the Puget Sound region. She most recently played the understudy of Rachel during Artemis Theatre Project’s production of The How and the Why. Previous Ohio-local theatre credits include, Athena, Avenue Q, and The Thanksgiving Play. Outside of acting, she works as the Education and Outreach Associate at Taproot Theatre Company.

Maia Low, (Mom, Ensemble u/s) (she/her/they) is delighted to appear on Pork Filled Production’s main stage.  Her recent credits include staged readings of The Machine with PFP and How to Raise a Revolution (for the breaking family) with Parley Productions.

Joshua Erme (Ben, Ensemble u/s) is thrilled to be working with Pork Filled and SIS Productions yet again! His previous work with them includes last summer’s production of Vietgone! His most recent credits include And Then There Were None (Renton Civic Theatre) and Gift of the Magi (Taproot Theatre)

Tim Takechi (Matt, Ensemble u/s) Tim’s recent credits include Miss Holmes, Harvey, and Yellow Fever at Centerstage Theatre, Andelana at Dukesbay Productions, She-Devil of the China Seas at PPF, A Christmas Carol…more or less at Lakewood Playhouse, The White Snake at ReAct Theatre, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Snow Falling on Cedarsat Bainbridge Performing Arts.

Ken Kavin (Kenji/Ensemble u/s) is umami-fied to be understudying a theatrical feast, making his debut with Pork Filled Productions and SIS Productions! With wonder a scarce resource, he finds JOY in the healing alchemy of playfulness and language, sparked by formative odysseys involving dinosaur figurines and nurtured by many, many tales since. To his first storytellers–Mom, Dad, Aunties.

Design Staff

Grecia Leal Pardo (Production Manager) is a Latina theatre artist based in Duwamish and Coast Salish lands (Seattle) who predominantly works as a production manager, stage manager, and translator. Most recently, she was production manager for Passage with Yun Theatre, Vietgone with Pork Filled and SIS productions, and Unrivaled with SIS Productions.

Madelyn Salvucci (Production Manager)

P. Alyda Sorm (she/her) (stage manager) is a Khmer American theatre artist from Seattle. She’s worked with Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Intiman, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, The Feast, Mirror Stage, ArtsWest and Sound Theatre Company. She is also a producer for Pork Filled Productions.

Parmida Ziaei (scenic designer) is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist, designer, and co-founder of Seda Theatre. Parmida worked as a scenic and production designer for many Seattle theatres, such as ACT, Village Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and more. When not designing, Parmida performs, choreographs, and teaches as a movement artist. www.parmidaziaei.com

Jasmine Lomax (intimacy director) is a Cornish College of the Arts Original Works graduate working tirelessly to help shape the Seattle Theater Community into a healthy, creative,  and collaborative environment. Some of their recent credits include Fat Ham (Intimacy Director) with Seattle Repertory Theatre, Trouble in Mind (Director) with Burien Actors Theatre.

 Toki Bahn (assistant stage manager)is a musician and software developer with skills and interests in a variety of art forms. With just a bit of previous pit orchestra experience, Toki, a newcomer to the theater production scene, has joined the production of Exotic Deadly as an assistant stage manager.

Shadow Girls Cult (puppetry designer) is a queer shadow puppetry and projections duo based in Seattle. Using overhead projectors, adapted camera irises, 2-D shadow puppets, human silhouettes, and other analog technology, they create puppet magic for audiences all over the U.S.

Josh Valdez (sound designer) is a sound designer/composer/musician in the Greater Seattle area. They’ve designed sound for Here and Their, Laughs in Spanish (Seattle Rep) and performed for 14/48. They also work in higher education in serving BIPOC first-gen youth, is a DJ, and plays drums for YUELAN.

Robin Macartney (props designer) (she/her) is an award-winning set and prop designer who has been fortunate to work with a large number of theatre companies in Seattle and the Puget Sound area. She is the resident set designer at Theatre off Jackson, the props manager for the former Seattle Shakespeare Co., and the former scene shop supervisor for the University of Puget Sound’s theatre department.

Giao Nguyen (PR photographer) is a Vietnamese-American multi-disciplinary award-winning artist based in Seattle. His visual media work has been featured at ACT Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Taproot Theatre, Seattle Times, BroadwayWorld and more. He currently works as the Digital Content & Communications Manager at ACT Theatre and continues to direct/produce independent narrative film work. More at: Giao-Nguyen.com

Roger Tang (he/him) (Co-Executive Producer) is an award-winning producer and playwright. He has produced numerous Northwest and world premieres from authors such as Qui Nguyen and David Henry Hwang (and helped build the Theatre Off Jackson). Known as the “Godfather of Asian American theatre,” he is secretary of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists and edits the Asian American Theatre Revue (www.aatrevue.com).

-30-