Kumu Kahua presents WILCOX SHOT (Mar12)

Sean T. C. O’Malley’s impeccably researched ‘Wilcox’s Shot’ imagines Robert Wilcox’s relationship with Theodore Roosevelt and other key players in the whirlwind of 1901 politics

WHAT: Wilcox’s Shot, by Sean T.C. O’Malley, a world premiere
WHERE: Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant St.
WHEN: March 29-April 29 (see full schedule below)
How much: $5-$20
INFO: 536-4441,www.kumukahua.org; box office open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
SPECIAL EVENT: The April 6 performance will feature a “Talk Story” session with playwright Sean T.C. O’Malley at 10 p.m.

Honolulu, HI—Kumu Kahua Theatre presents the world premiere of O‘ahu playwright Sean T.C. O’Malley’s latest work Wilcox’s Shot, a fascinating study of one of Hawaiian history’s most interesting figures.

In 1901, Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, who was educated in Italy, had led rebellions in support of the monarchy, and traveled to Washington, D.C. as the first elected delegate of the Territory of Hawai‘i. He was accompanied by his stylish, accomplished wife Princess Theresa Owana Ka‘ohelelani La‘anui.

O’Malley skillfully recreates the turn-of-the-century capital city and these two magnetic personalities. “They are two incredible people,” says O’Malley. “You have this powerhouse team during an amazing time—that’s what I wanted to capture.”

Although some historians portray Wilcox as a fickle historic figure, in Wilcox’s Shot O’Malley presents the delegate’s poor legislative performance in Washington as a result of circumstance. “I try to make the case that he is a realist,” says O’Malley. “He takes whatever moment he is in and says, ‘Well, what will be the best direction for the Hawaiian people?’ It is a more favorable interpretation than some.”

Wilcox’s Shot is the result of eight years of research and writing. O’Malley scoured the Library of Congress’s digital newspaper collection, went through microfiche after microfiche of local newspapers at the University of Hawai‘i’s Hamilton Library, and read Unconquerable Rebel, Ernest Andrade’s biography of Wilcox. His archival sleuthing hit a high point at Bishop Museum, where he found a handwritten note from Wilcox to Queen Lili‘uokalani. “It was half in English, half in Hawaiian,” says O’Malley. “It was exciting to see his handwriting right there on the paper. He asked the queen if he could stay at her house while she was in Washington for a few months in early 1902. It was during the period when his wife had returned to Hawai‘i to start a newspaper, and he became ill. I think he needed a little taking care of—the queen had a Hawaiian cook with her. It gave me a little insight into his fragile state at the time. Right after that, things began to fall apart for him.”

Like E.L. Doctorow did with his novel Ragtime, O’Malley weaves real and imagined events into a fascinating story of how an inspired Hawaiian patriot battled to give his country a voice, and in the process confronted political impotence, racism, and illness amid a presidential assassination, a World’s Fair, and growing U.S. focus on influence in the Pacific and Asia. By writing fictional encounters with anarchist Emma Goldman, educator and black political leader Booker T. Washington, and pioneering black actor and entertainer Bert Williams, O’Malley highlights social issues of the time.

“Wilcox would have been walking into a very tough situation,” says O’Malley. “He was not the first non-white in Congress, but with the post-Reconstruction South increasingly restricting the political rights of blacks, by the time Wilcox went to Congress, there were no longer any nonwhite representatives. There was not another one until the 1930s.”

At the center of the play is Wilcox’s relationship with Theodore Roosevelt, a turn-of-the-century bromance gone wrong. Attracted by each other’s “man’s man” qualities—athleticism, idealism, conviction, battle scars—and a mutual dislike of President McKinley, the two embark on a friendship that attempts to transcend politics. O’Malley brilliantly uses their friendly sparring matches as a metaphor for frustration with Congress’s sly gamesmanship and power plays.

O’Malley’s Wilcox and his princess are three-dimensional characters who are tenderly loving with one another one moment, then dueling with rapier intellect and wit the next.

“The fascinating thing for me is this man’s desire to do right, to support the Hawaiian people,” says O’Malley. “At the same time there is an ego that he may or may not have been conscious of. And he walked into a remarkable turning point, not only in Hawaiian history, but in the history of the United States.”

Special event Friday, April 6
The theater is honored to host a Talk Story session with Sean T.C. O’Malley following the play’s April 6 performance. The audience is invited to remain in the theater once the play has ended to participate in a Q+A session with one of Hawai‘i’s premier dramatists.

Cast and crew (and their home towns)
Albert Ueligitone: Pago Pago, American Samoa
Danielle Zalopany: K?ne‘ohe, O‘ahu
Tony Nickelsen: Kailua, O‘ahu
Jenn Thomas: Helena, Montana
Troy Apostol: ‘Aiea, O‘ahu
Scott Robertson: Los Angeles, California
Rikki Jo Hickey: La Grande, Oregon
Jordan Savusa: Ewa Beach, O‘ahu
Brett Botbyl/director: Hawthorne, New Jersey
Sean T.C. O’Malley/writer: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m:
March 29, 30, 31; April 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28

Sundays at 2 p.m.:
April 1, 15, 22, *29, 2012 (no show on April 8, due to Easter)

ABOUT KUMU KAHUA THEATRE
Forty-one-year-old Kumu Kahua is the only theater group in the state that nurtures local playwrights, offering them a sounding board and venue, and telling Hawai‘i’s story through plays about these islands, its people, its cultures and contemporary life. Without Kumu Kahua, seminal works about Hawai‘i by Hawai‘i playwrights—such as Lee Cataluna’s Folks You Meet in Longs and Edward Sakamoto’s Aloha Las Vegas—would not have made it to the stage, and into people’s hearts. Founded in the early 1970s by University of Hawai‘i graduate students, Kumu Kahua has gained national and international recognition for its regional program.

With more than 200 plays to its credit, the theater’s artistic and technical experience attracts some of Hawai‘i’s most talented playwrights, actors, directors, designers and other theater artists. The audience at Kumu Kahua is treated to the unique experience of hearing their voice on stage and seeing their lives unfold in the action of the play.

Kumu Kahua productions are made possible with support from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, celebrating more than 30 years of culture and the arts in Hawai‘i, and the National Endowment for the Arts; The Annenberg Foundation; Paid for in part by the taxpayers of the City & County of Honolulu; the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts; and foundations, businesses and patrons.

Questions? Email



	New Play Vividly Portrays Hawaiian Patriot Robert Wilcox At Pivotal Point Of History Sean T. C. O’Malley’s impeccably researched ‘Wilcox’s Shot’ imagines Robert Wilcox’s relationship with Theodore Roosevelt and other key players in the whirlwind of 1901 politics WHAT: Wilcox’s Shot, by Sean T.C. O’Malley, a world premiere WHERE: Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant St. WHEN: March 29-April 29 (see full schedule below) How much: $5-$20 INFO: 536-4441,www.kumukahua.org; box office open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. SPECIAL EVENT: The April 6 performance will feature a “Talk Story” session with playwright Sean T.C. O’Malley at 10 p.m. Honolulu, HI—Kumu Kahua Theatre presents the world premiere of O‘ahu playwright Sean T.C. O’Malley’s latest work Wilcox’s Shot, a fascinating study of one of Hawaiian history’s most interesting figures. In 1901, Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, who was educated in Italy, had led rebellions in support of the monarchy, and traveled to Washington, D.C. as the first elected delegate of the Territory of Hawai‘i. He was accompanied by his stylish, accomplished wife Princess Theresa Owana Ka‘ohelelani La‘anui. O’Malley skillfully recreates the turn-of-the-century capital city and these two magnetic personalities. “They are two incredible people,” says O’Malley. “You have this powerhouse team during an amazing time—that’s what I wanted to capture.” Although some historians portray Wilcox as a fickle historic figure, in Wilcox’s Shot O’Malley presents the delegate’s poor legislative performance in Washington as a result of circumstance. “I try to make the case that he is a realist,” says O’Malley. “He takes whatever moment he is in and says, ‘Well, what will be the best direction for the Hawaiian people?’ It is a more favorable interpretation than some.” Wilcox’s Shot is the result of eight years of research and writing. O’Malley scoured the Library of Congress’s digital newspaper collection, went through microfiche after microfiche of local newspapers at the University of Hawai‘i’s Hamilton Library, and read Unconquerable Rebel, Ernest Andrade’s biography of Wilcox. His archival sleuthing hit a high point at Bishop Museum, where he found a handwritten note from Wilcox to Queen Lili‘uokalani. “It was half in English, half in Hawaiian,” says O’Malley. “It was exciting to see his handwriting right there on the paper. He asked the queen if he could stay at her house while she was in Washington for a few months in early 1902. It was during the period when his wife had returned to Hawai‘i to start a newspaper, and he became ill. I think he needed a little taking care of—the queen had a Hawaiian cook with her. It gave me a little insight into his fragile state at the time. Right after that, things began to fall apart for him.” Like E.L. Doctorow did with his novel Ragtime, O’Malley weaves real and imagined events into a fascinating story of how an inspired Hawaiian patriot battled to give his country a voice, and in the process confronted political impotence, racism, and illness amid a presidential assassination, a World’s Fair, and growing U.S. focus on influence in the Pacific and Asia. By writing fictional encounters with anarchist Emma Goldman, educator and black political leader Booker T. Washington, and pioneering black actor and entertainer Bert Williams, O’Malley highlights social issues of the time. “Wilcox would have been walking into a very tough situation,” says O’Malley. “He was not the first non-white in Congress, but with the post-Reconstruction South increasingly restricting the political rights of blacks, by the time Wilcox went to Congress, there were no longer any nonwhite representatives. There was not another one until the 1930s.” At the center of the play is Wilcox’s relationship with Theodore Roosevelt, a turn-of-the-century bromance gone wrong. Attracted by each other’s “man’s man” qualities—athleticism, idealism, conviction, battle scars—and a mutual dislike of President McKinley, the two embark on a friendship that attempts to transcend politics. O’Malley brilliantly uses their friendly sparring matches as a metaphor for frustration with Congress’s sly gamesmanship and power plays. O’Malley’s Wilcox and his princess are three-dimensional characters who are tenderly loving with one another one moment, then dueling with rapier intellect and wit the next. “The fascinating thing for me is this man’s desire to do right, to support the Hawaiian people,” says O’Malley. “At the same time there is an ego that he may or may not have been conscious of. And he walked into a remarkable turning point, not only in Hawaiian history, but in the history of the United States.” Special event Friday, April 6 The theater is honored to host a Talk Story session with Sean T.C. O’Malley following the play’s April 6 performance. The audience is invited to remain in the theater once the play has ended to participate in a Q+A session with one of Hawai‘i’s premier dramatists. Cast and crew (and their home towns) Albert Ueligitone: Pago Pago, American Samoa Danielle Zalopany: K?ne‘ohe, O‘ahu Tony Nickelsen: Kailua, O‘ahu Jenn Thomas: Helena, Montana Troy Apostol: ‘Aiea, O‘ahu Scott Robertson: Los Angeles, California Rikki Jo Hickey: La Grande, Oregon Jordan Savusa: Ewa Beach, O‘ahu Brett Botbyl/director: Hawthorne, New Jersey Sean T.C. O’Malley/writer: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Full performance schedule Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8 p.m: March 29, 30, 31; April 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 Sundays at 2 p.m.: April 1, 15, 22, 29, 2012 (no show on April 8, due to Easter) ABOUT KUMU KAHUA THEATRE* Forty-one-year-old Kumu Kahua is the only theater group in the state that nurtures local playwrights, offering them a sounding board and venue, and telling Hawai‘i’s story through plays about these islands, its people, its cultures and contemporary life. Without Kumu Kahua, seminal works about Hawai‘i by Hawai‘i playwrights—such as Lee Cataluna’s Folks You Meet in Longs and Edward Sakamoto’s Aloha Las Vegas—would not have made it to the stage, and into people’s hearts. Founded in the early 1970s by University of Hawai‘i graduate students, Kumu Kahua has gained national and international recognition for its regional program. With more than 200 plays to its credit, the theater’s artistic and technical experience attracts some of Hawai‘i’s most talented playwrights, actors, directors, designers and other theater artists. The audience at Kumu Kahua is treated to the unique experience of hearing their voice on stage and seeing their lives unfold in the action of the play. Kumu Kahua productions are made possible with support from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, celebrating more than 30 years of culture and the arts in Hawai‘i, and the National Endowment for the Arts; The Annenberg Foundation; Paid for in part by the taxpayers of the City & County of Honolulu; the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts; and foundations, businesses and patrons. Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Plays \| Library/Storefront \| Timeline Copyright 2012, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

New Play Vividly Portrays Hawaiian Patriot Robert Wilcox At Pivotal Point Of History

New Play Vividly Portrays Hawaiian Patriot Robert Wilcox
At Pivotal Point Of History