The Tashme Project: The Living Archives

January 29 – February 10 2019, Mainspace Theatre

#ftTashme

Running Time: 70 minutes
Recommended for ages 14+

Written & Performed by Julie Tamiko Manning and Matt Miwa
Directed by Mike Payette

Factory presents a Tashme production

Highlighting the unexpected moments of joy and wonder in the face of hardship and injustice, The Tashme Project chronicles the experiences of the Nisei, second generation Japanese Canadians. Now in their 70s and 80s, they were children during the Second World War and subjected to Canada’s strict internment laws. The unique memories they share of interment and post-War resettlement offer a crucial and little known glimpse into Canada’s shameful wartime past, while offering glimmers of hope for the future.

Tamiko Manning and Miwa see an ongoing loss of [Japanese] culture, language, and identity - and The Tashme Project is an attempt to fight against that
The Globe and Mail

Those who know little about Japanese Canadian history and experiences will be edified by seeing this show
The Toronto Star

L to R: Julie Tamiko Manning, Matt Miwa. Set & Costume Design by James Lavoie, Lighting Design by David Perreault Ninacs, Photo by June Park.

L to R: Matt Miwa, Julie Tamiko Manning. Set & Costume Design by James Lavoie, Lighting Design by David Perreault Ninacs, Photo by June Park.

About the Playwrights/Performers

Julie Tamiko Manning

Julie Tamiko Manning is an award-winning Montreal actor and theatre creator. Selected acting credits include: Annie in Jean Dit (Théâtre D’Aujourd’hui), Vic in Vic and Flo Saw A Bear (Talisman), Elena in Butcher (Centaur), Isabella Bird in Top Girls (Segal), Titania in A Midsummer Nights’ Dream (Repercussion), Clarence in Richard III (Metachroma) and Nancy in Oliver! (National Arts Centre).

Her first play, Mixie and the Halfbreeds (with Adrienne Wong) is on the list of 49 plays by Women of Colour That You Can Program Tomorrow (the49list.com) and was produced by fuGEN this past Spring. She is currently working with the French company cie IKB creating Identités, a play about the many facets of Québécois identity, and is beginning work on her third play, Mizushobai, (commissioned by Montreal’s Tableau D’Hôte Theatre) about Kiyoko Tanaka-Goto, a Japanese picture bride turned business woman in 1930’s British Columbia.

Julie is co-artistic director of Tashme Productions, associate artistic producer of Metachroma Theatre, and is currently a mentor with Black Theatre Workshop’s Artist Mentorship Program.

Matt Miwa

Matt Miwa is a theatre, performance and video artist based in Ottawa Ontario, where he works to build bridges and collaboration between cultural communities. Matt proudly serves on the board of the Ottawa Japanese Community Association and was the Executive Director of Les Prix Rideau Awards, a community building organization for Ottawa-Gatineau’s professional and co-lingual theatre community(ies).

For theatre, Matt is currently in residency with Ottawa’s undercurrents theatre festival in which he is writing and directing his new piece entitled, Bold Woman, Love! both a dream play and a modern retelling of Electra’s story.

Selected acting credits include 2nd Priest in Murder in the Cathedral (Third Wall Theatre); Jacob in Little Martyrs (Evolution Theatre); Swiss Cheese in Mother Courage (NAC-English Theatre); He in Someone`s Going to Come (Unicorn Theatre); and the Schmurz in The Empire Builders (Third Wall Theatre).

About the Director

Mike Payette

Mike Payette is a director, educator and actor who has appeared at some of Canada’s finest theatres. As an actor, he has worked at The Citadel, Vertigo, Banff Centre, The Grand, Factory Theatre, Neptune, and the National Arts Centre, as well as with great companies in his hometown of Montreal. Directing credits include Harlem Duet (Black Theatre Workshop), Another Home Invasion (Tableau D’Hôte Theatre), Hosanna and Choir Boy (Centaur), Around the World in 80 Days, The Paperbag Princess (Geordie), Venus and Burning Vision (National Theatre School), Sensitivity (Obsidian Theatre/CBC Gem; 21 Black Futures), Héritage – A Raisin in the Sun (Théâtre Duceppe) along with the national tours of The Tashme Project (Tashme Prod/Centaur/Factory/Firehall) and Lorena Gale’s Angélique (BTW/Tableau D’Hôte/NAC/Factory/Obsidian). Mike is a two-time Montreal English Theatre Award (META) recipient and was the co-founding Artistic Director of Tableau D’Hôte Theatre and past Assistant Artistic Director for Black Theatre Workshop. He was also Artistic and Executive Director of Geordie Productions before his appointment as Artistic Director of Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre in 2021.