2nd Annual Reset Series Available Online
WHAT: Reset Series 2021
WHERE: Online via each theater company’s respective YouTube channel:
· KUMU KAHUA THEATRE, CONCH SHELL PRODUCTIONS and Facebook pages:
· KUMU KAHUA THEATRE, CONCH SHELL PRODUCTIONS
WHEN: July 24th & July 31st at 2PM HST / 8PM EST
COST: Free admission. Donations are very much appreciated.
INFO: kumukahua.org, conchshellproductions.com
Honolulu, HI and Queens, NY–Honolulu-based Kumu Kahua Theater is collaborating with New York City-based Conch Shell Productions to present the second annual Reset Series – a remote collaboration featuring live streamed performances, followed by Q&A’s with the artists on July 24th & July 31st at 2PM HST / 8PM EST/ 7PM CST.
The series includes nine new plays by writers of color, each inspired by the theme: FEMALE STRENGTH.
Last summer, the two theatres (along with Braata Productions) formed an alliance called Reset Theatre Coalition designed to spotlight playwrights of color in America and their responses to current events and/issues. In the midst of the #BLM response to police brutality, the coalition brought their communities of BIPOC writers together to produce a live-streamed series of short plays reflecting diverse views on oppression in America and prompting dialogue between their artists and communities. That collaboration was archived in Conch Shell Press’ publication of short plays – WE’RE NOT NEUTRAL: RESET SERIES 2020 COLLECTED SHORT PLAYS.
This July, Reset Series 2021 will feature nine new short plays written by Caribbean Diaspora, and Asian American and Pacific Islander playwrights that explore the courage and strength of women when faced with challenges. Featured Reset Series 2021 playwrights include Tanya Perez, Hannah Ii-Epstein, Phanesia Pharel, Lee A. Tonouchi, Gretchen Suárez-Peña, Kimiye Everard, Jeannie Barroga (Lifetime Member, Dramatists Guild), L. Trey Wilson, and Michelle De Joya.
Reset Series 2021 is partially funded by a grant from the 2021 NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program).
ABOUT FEATURED PLAYS
Live Streamed on July 24th, 2021:
“The A Word” by Hannah Ii-Epstein
Emily watches her new roommate Amanda’s feminist blog and can’t control the goddess within her.
“Denial in Okinawa” by Lee A. Tonouchi
In this political allegory when a U.S. soldier strikes up an unwanted conversation with a Okinawan woman, how does she get him to leave?
“Surge” by Tanya Perez
A couple going through a divorce is stuck in the very last place they thought possible: a Florida motel room in the middle of a vicious hurricane. Will they make it out alive?
“Inheritance” by Kimiye Everard
A daughter away at college has a momentous and revealing monthly FaceTime call with her mother.
“Thank You” by Phanesia Pharel
A young woman enters a hospital, not to seek a patient but to thank someone who left her behind.
Live Streamed on July 31st, 2021:
“The Bystander” by L. Trey Wilson
A woman witnesses a tragic event that has her reflect on her past and alters her future.
“Options” by Jeannie Barroga, Lifetime Member, Dramatists Guild
Grandma takes on battles, in gaming and in street attacks. Countering more unseen conflicts, her grandson weighs in on what response to choose — what ‘weapon’?
“See the Light” by Michelle De Joya
Through the eyes of the “hot and fiery she-demon” Lilith, banished to a private cell in hell for daring to want to be Adam’s equal, this is a metaphorical look at the suffering woman.
“Moon Walker” by Gretchen Suárez-Peña
Anisha can’t sleep. Insomnia comes to visit and further torment her hoping to turn her into an eternal moonwalker. Will Anisha ever escape Insomnia’s annoying stronghold?
ABOUT COALITION THEATRES
Conch Shell Productions’ mission is to infuse new Caribbean American and Caribbean Diaspora voices in American theater and film industry by developing, showcasing and producing new plays and screenplays.
Kumu Kahua Theatre is a non-profit theater whose mission is to create, support and showcase original works of theater specifically related with Hawaii and the cultures represented in Hawaii – for audiences who live in Hawaii
The show will run on a public YouTube stream; no special software or applications are needed for viewing. Audience members may be able to stream directly to television screens via smart TVs or services such as Fire TV and Roku and should check with their streaming provider for instruction.
For further information, call the Kumu Kahua Theatre office at 536-4222, or email officemanager@kumukahua.org.
Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by the Island Insurance Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020, McInerny Foundation (Bank of Hawaii, Trustee); The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai`i, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, The Halligan Charitable Trust, Hawai`i Public Radio, The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, Edric Sakamoto, John Mazur and other foundations, businesses, and loyal patrons.
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