In partnership with
PorkFilled Productions
Written by Kendall Uyeji | Directed by Mimi Katano
About The Play
A Japanese American family wrestles with the fact Mary has a chronic illness and wants to undergo end of life preparations. Alice, her sister, strongly disagrees and thinks she should stay alive and fight. This pulls Simon, the only brother, into the middle of an argument on how people are allowed to die. This tension builds while their mother, Setsuko, is going through early onset dementia. Together, they explore family trauma, the idea of dignity, and who truly gets a say in death.
Friday, April 17 at 7:30
University Heights Center
5031 University Way NE, Seattle
The Playwright
Kendall Uyeji is a writer, improviser, producer, and actor. He graduated with a theatre degree in 2016 and has been involved in the arts in Seattle ever since! He has helped produce plays with Porkfilled Productions and spends his time writing and creating stories. He is the Education Manager for Jet City Improv and loves performing too! You can see him perform in Dndprov, a show he created, and he helps with a variety of projects around town.
The Cast
Wendy Chinn (Mary Kimura)
Wendy is a full time actor, writer, and dance/weapons
choreographer. Recent theatre credits include Huong in the
SIS/PFP’s production of ‘Vietgone’, directed by Mimi Katano, and
Lai in ReAct/Pratidwhani’s production of ‘Refugees In The Garden
City’. Her film credits include, Katie Prentis’, ‘Wake Up Maggie’
and Barbara Brown’s, ‘Bottlecap’. She also trains in dialect,
singing and improv. Wendy is honored to be working with
Kendall’s script, with Mimi at the helm.
Owen Yen (Simon Kimura)
Owen has been working as an actor and musician for over 30 years. Since moving from Chicago to Seattle in 2005, Owen has performed in shows with various theatre companies as well as continuing to work in films, TV, and commercials as a union member. Owen is very excited to have this opportunity to work on this wonderful project with such a talented group of artists!”
Naho Shioya (Alice Kimura) is an artist, educator, and consultant working at the intersection of creativity, justice, and systems change. As a theatre artist, she has performed internationally across Asia, Canada, Europe, and the U.S. In the Seattle area, her acting credits include productions with ArtsWest, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle Public Theater, On the Boards, and more. She has also toured with the Seattle-based experimental, multidisciplinary arts group Aono Jikken Ensemble (AJE), performing in France, Peru, Poland, and Canada. Naho is also the founder and principal of SOZO Evolution, where she guides individuals and organizations in imagining new possibilities, creating intentional pathways, and evolving toward equity, justice, and transformative change.
Sachie Takezawa (Setsuko Kimura)
Sachie graduated from the Nihon University in Acting. After engaging in theatrical activities primarily in small theaters during her student years, she moved to the United States following her marriage. While raising her children, she spent approximately 10 years with the puppet theater and story time group “Mimibunko,” providing cultural support and creating productions for children in Seattle. Since 2017, she has worked at a Japanese-American bilingual kindergarten in Bellevue, where she teaches Japanese classes. She currently shares the joy of theater with children through daily story time sessions and an annual theater summer camp.
Philip Gregory Smith (Voice from Above/Stage Directions)
is a proud graduate of the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts in California and Emerson College in Boston. After performing up and down the east coast for a decade, he moved to Seattle and forsook theater for the corporate grind (though did manage vanishingly brief appearances with NWAAT, SiS Productions, and Theatre Anonymous). He is pleased to be among a group of actors he greatly admires under the guidance of his favorite director in the whole wide world.
The Director
Mimi Katano is the Founding Artistic Director of ZTPP and is thrilled to work on this story with Kendall. Her directing credits include: Seattle Opera (School Tour), Union Arts Center (Wooden O'), 5th Avenue Theatre (ETC Tour), Seattle Public Theatre, Centerstage Theatre, Live Girls! Theatre, 14/48 Projects, Boston’s Wheelock Family Theatre, and Youth Theatre Northwest. Mimi is a two-time Gregory Awards nominee for Outstanding Direction, and the production of Vietgone, which she directed in 2024, was the recipient of Outstanding Production of the Year. mimikatano.com.