Hawaiian Electric Company Grant Will Support Kumu Kahua Theatre¹s 43rd Season

For the second year, Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) Charitable Foundation and Hawaiian Electric Company are contributing financial support to Kumu Kahua Theatre. Funds granted to the theater will be used primarily to back educational programs, which include preview nights for island teachers, acting and playwriting workshops, and partnerships with island schools to develop playwriting skills in local youth. With this support from HEI Charitable Foundation and Hawaiian Electric, Kumu Kahua Theatre is able to offer most of these programs free of charge.

³Kumu Kahua¹s commitment to educational excellence reflects our shared values,² said Lori Hoo, community relations director for Hawaiian Electric. ³We¹re honored to continue our partnership with Kumu Kahua and be able to offer these educator enrichment programs that stir appreciation for our unique island communities through the theatre experience.²
³This partnership with Hawaiian Electric is very important to Kumu Kahua Theatre,² says Kumu Kahua Theatre Managing Director, Donna Blanchard. ³The programming we are able to offer with this help enables us to continue the lifecycle of our work, to assure that scripts and plays dealing with local subject matter continue to be produced here. It¹s our kuleana ­ both our honor and responsibility ­ to do this work and we are so very grateful to Hawaiian Electric for the wherewithal to do it!²

The mission of Kumu Kahua Theatre is to provide theatrical opportunities for the expression of local community lifestyles, whether contemporary or historical; to stage locally written plays set in Hawai`i or dealing with some aspect of the Hawaiian experience of residents; to provide training and theatrical experiences for local playwrights, directors, performers and other theatrical artists; and to develop an increasingly large audience sensitive to plays and theatre pieces dealing specifically and truthfully with local subject matter.