J.A.M. Presentations

Jun 03, 2026 - Jun 03, 2026 | CinemaSpace

7 p.m.

Join us in celebrating the achievements of our 2025-2026 Jewish Arts Mentorship (J.A.M.) Cohort!

A chance to meet this year's handpicked group of rising theatre-makers: Josh Fichman-Goldberg, Michele Shashoua Reich, and Rae Vineberg, and to preview segments of their new works-in-progress.

 

Past J.A.M. fellows have gone on to develop, create, and present their work on stages in Montreal and beyond. This eighth annual showcase is an exciting opportunity to see creative projects in their early stages and follow talented artists doing innovative work in all facets of the theatre world.

We invite you to stay and enjoy some refreshments with us in the ArtLounge following the presentation

FREE EVENT!

 

RSVP HERE

 

JAM COHORT 2026

 

Josh Fichman-Goldberg

Josh Fichman-Goldberg is a Montreal-born cultural advocate and multidisciplinary performing artist. He explores Jewish identity through performances as his original drag-clown character Rokhl (Instagram: @itsrokhl), a theatrical exploration of Ashkenazi Jewish life that bridges historical memory and contemporary queer & gender expression. Passionate about Jewish history and diaspora culture, he is an active participant in Montreal's klezmer music scene and has attended KlezKanada’s summer retreat as an Azrieli scholarship recipient and as their 2025 ombudsperson. Through his performances and showcase events, Josh seeks to celebrate and reimagine Jewish cultural expression for contemporary audiences. He is also pursuing a career in law, currently working in consumer rights advocacy for a Canadian non-profit organization.

 

 

Michele Shashoua Reich

Art leads. Art consoles. Stories endure. Michele comes to theatre and storytelling through an unconventional path. A creative strategist by profession and a multidisciplinary practitioner at heart, she is drawn to the ways stories shape identity and belonging. Her work has long focused on helping others express complex ideas; only recently has she turned that inquiry inward.

Through Jewish Arts Mentorship program, she is developing a documentary-style theatre project rooted in her Iraqi Jewish heritage and the near-extinct Judeo-Iraqi language. Using interviews, archival fragments, and the sensory details of culture — its sounds, tastes, and expressions — she explores how identity is carried forward and reshaped across generations.

She sees herself as a curator of voices, gathering and giving form to the memories that have shaped her family and community.

 

 

Rae Vineberg

Rae Vineberg creates deeply personal, non-fiction plays, performance, poetry and public art, and documentary plays. Creating and holding meaningful spaces for personal stories- as a bridge- remembering us back to ourselves, and each other- is at the art of everything she does. She views herself as a “re-emerging artist” and she is over the actual moon to be part of the J.A.M. 2025-26 cohort. She is returning to full-time art practice after scaling back for a number of years while raising her daughter, who is now a wonderful young artist in her own right. Cherished moments and projects include Telegraph from Departure Bay, recently celebrating its 25th anniversary with much of the original cast at Le Lion d’Or, and dreaming of a remount. The play was also part of the Harvard Independent Film Group Readings in NYC after its original run at Le Monument National. Two amazing residencies at La Baraque, one for The Development Possibility, the other for The Marathon of Accommodation. Being part of the awesome FTA with beloved play Coming Home to Roost was an honour and a joy.