The TASHI plays are theatrical adaptations of Anna and Barbara Fienberg's well loved childrens books about the magical and mysterious adventures of a young migrant boy, Tashi, and his best friend, Jack. Each story is approximately 25 minutes and aimed at 4-10 year olds. The stories are performed in pairs, from the five Tashi plays in the Imaginary Theatre repertoire.

Each different story is performed on the same set by the same four performers and is underscored by a dynamic sound design. The tales are told through physical storytelling and object theatre and supported with a simple yet intricate lighting design. Imaginary's TASHI plays have been seen by over 60, 000 children, parents and carers in Australia and Korea.

In 2010 Imaginary Theatre toured nationally with Tashi, the Swan and the Dragon & Tashi and the Big Stinker, and in 2014 with Tashi and the Mountain of White Tigers & Tashi; Lost in the City. We have visited over 50 communities across Australia with these works.

Previously the Tashi plays have played to limited houses of 400 or less. For the 2017/18 tour we will rework two stories to make them suitable to play to up to 600 with no maximum distance for audiences.

Venue Format
Theatre, Black Box Venue
Technical Rating
B, C
Touring Party
6 total: 4 performers, 1 stage/tour manager, 1 lighting technician
Considerations

We are reworking the show to make them suitable to play to houses of up to 600, this reworking will be done as part of the remount and might involve some alterations to lighting, the first few venues may have some last minute requests, though we will aim to keep requests within venue specs. The first venue on the tour will need to allow for the show to have a full LX and Sound plot & tech.

We can perform up to 10 shows/week. 2 shows per day is standard, 3 is possible upon request.

Imaginary Theatre is a Brisbane-based arts organisation creating inspiring arts experiences for and with children aged 12 and under that sit on the intersection of creativity, childhood and community. Imaginary's work has engaged more than 80, 000 children across Australia and Internationally since 2006.

Company Website
imaginarytheatre.org

Unique Selling Point

The Imaginary philosophy is to provide children with the information they require to process the adult world, we demonstrate this in our theatre works by introducing our actors, technicians and theatrical elements to allow children to fully process and engage with the work more deeply. This introduction is unique to Imaginary and many presenters, parents and teachers have commented that this process is hugely beneficial to children's engagement with Tashi, but also other performance experiences.

Whilst Tashi is an adaptation, it is not a literal retelling, the visual and physical storytelling invites young audiences to imagine the stories with us.

Marketing Materials

The Tashi books are hugely popular with emergent readers, they've won literary awards, have been on the SMH Top 10 reads for under 10s, Courier Mail preferred reading list and have been recommended reading for QLD year 2 students for a number of years.

Imaginary has a relationship with the author, and book publisher, it is possible to access book giveaways, A&U collateral and the original Tashi imagery/illustrations

Imaginary's marketing pack includes: templates for letters to schools (principals & librarians, kindergartens), community letters; posters, fliers; TVC raw footage; show images; educators & parents resources.

Community Engagement

Because of the connection to the books there are multiple opportunities for community engagement and legacy building programs both before and after the Tashi plays visit a community. Some options include:

Imaginary artists visiting communities from 6 months prior to the tour to work with class groups to explore the Tashi books through drama and movement. This program would involve collaborating with local teachers and librarians to develop story-drama programs based on Tashi. This program could also involve class-group Tashi play presentations. This program would introduce schools/community libraries to the Tashi books, and the company and provide a link to the touring work. The legacy in the community is a love of reading, a connection between the performing arts and multiple literacy development, up-skilling of teachers, and community connections for the venue and artists/company.

Post-show workshops in drama skills or story-drama with children or, story-drama, performance making for/with children, page-stage adaptations masterclasses for adults. These workshops would be delivered on tour by the touring team and would deliver similar outcomes as the above, but would be over less time and have a smaller impact.

Imaginary is interested in developing bespoke activity for and with communities around this work.