Kumu Kahua Theatre Announces 44th Season
HONOLULU, HI - Kumu Kahua Theatre announced their
season at Kakašako Agora, for a full-house crowd. Kumu Kahua Theatre
Artistic Director, Harry Wong, announced the season and gave
descriptions and dates for each of the shows, and then a team of actors
performed a reading of the first play of the season.
Kumu Kahua's 44th Season of Plays For and About Hawai`i 2014-2015
Shoyu on Rice
A world premiere by Scot Izuka
August 21 to September 21, 2014
Peer pressure and identity issues create
comedy and drama in a private Hawaii high school. In the mid-1980s,
boys attending a Catholic all-boys high school deal with their use of
pidgin English when a substitute teacher from Kansas takes over their
classroom. Meanwhile, the substitute struggles to learn local ways in
both the classroom and the home of her Japanese-American fiancéšs
parents. And a student from a private girlšs school faces the scorn of
the boys due to rumors about her reputation.
the underneath
A world premiere by Susan Soon He Stanton
November 6 to December 7, 2014
When a young man disappears under mysterious
circumstances, his estranged brother tries to find him. In this noir
mystery drama, a man returns to Hawaii after ten years, responding to
an urgent summons from his brother. On arrival he learns that his
brother is missing, and that many things have changed since their
childhood. To uncover the mysteries, the brother encounters a
girlfriend, a homeless man who may have witnessed something relevant, a
crime boss and an enigmatic young private investigator. Identities
shift and the past re-emerges, as the search seems to reveal more
questions than answers.
My Name is Gary Cooper
A Hawai`i premiere by Victor Rodger
January 22 to February 22, 2015
A young Samoan man visits a Los Angeles family to deal with some unsettled issues.
Rodger, a playwright of Samoan ancestry, deals with themes of race, racism and identity. In My Name is Gary Cooper,
he combines knowledge of classic Hollywood films about the South
Pacific with a determination to bring Pacific Island characters to the
foreground. He says, "Hollywood'sŠ South Pacific filmsŠ, white
characters entered the brown world and stirred things up. What if, I
wondered, a brown character entered the white world instead, and
stirred things up? What would it look like?" This play answers the
question.
KaŒiulani
A Kumu Kahua revival by Dennis Carroll, Victoria Kneubuhl, Robert Nelson and Ryan Page
March 26 April 26, 2015
A poetic rendering of the short life of
HawaiŒišs half-Hawaiian, half-Scottish princess. Within the short life
of Princess KaŒiulani is contained the sad, shameful story of the
downfall of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She was sent to Europe to receive an
education befitting her royalty, but during her absence the monarchy
was abrogated and she returned to HawaiŒi a figurehead rather than a
queen. KaŒiulani is a historical-musical-psychological drama complete
with a Greek/Hawaiian chorus and a Hawaiian chanter. The play, which
portrays the princess during three different phases of her life,
originally premiered at Kumu Kahua Theatre in 1987.
Echoes of Dat Red Guitar
A world premiere by Lee A. Tonouchi
May 28 June 28, 2015
A comedy about mass murderŠ--or is it?
Hawaii's "Pidgin Guerilla" returns to Kumu's stage with a darkly
humorous play about a bright but unmotivated man still living at home
with his parents who berate him for his lack of ambition. He gets a job
in a state office populated with memorable characters, including a
bully, nerdy techies, a born-again Christian sex bomb, and a haole boss
who stresses "community" and "teamwork." When impending state furloughs
threaten his employment, will he be able to summon his personal
`aumakua, the Japanese superhero Kikaida? Or will the pressure drive
him to go postal?
Subscriptions and tickets are on sale and can be purchased at KumuKahua.org,
or by calling or visiting the Kumu Kahua Theatre box office at 46
Merchant street (the corner of Merchant and Bethel streets in downtown
Honolulu); 808-536-4441. The box office is open Monday Thursday from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM.
Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by The State Foundation on Culture and Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaii and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Also paid for in part by the taxpayers of the City & County of Honolulu; the Mayoršs Office of Culture and the Arts; The HawaiŒi Tourism Authority; McInerny Foundation (Bank of Hawaii, Trustee); Hawaiian Electric Company; The Star Advertiser; and other Foundations, Businesses and Patrons.
