Held only once every four years, and in a different Pacific Island country each time, the Festival of Pacific Arts will bring together an expected 2000 participants from more than 25 countries, to celebrate the diverse cultures of the Pacific Islands. The festival will feature magnificent visual arts, literary arts, performing arts, and even culinary and traditional healing arts. It is the largest, most anticipated, diverse and amazing showcase of Pacific Island culture in the world. Kumu Kahua Theatre will be traveling to this festival as a part of the Hawaii delegation, and Halau Haloa, organized by Kumu Hula Mapuana de Silva. The Theatre has raised approximately $15,000 to cover travel to and from American Sāmoa. The festival itself supplies housing, food, and ground transportation for the participants.

To celebrate its departure, Kumu Kahua will be holding two special command performances of Kāmau , on July 18th and 19th, before going to Sāmoa the very next day! Both shows will be presented at Kumu Kahua Theatre, which is located at 46 Merchant Street (on the corner of Bethel Street) in Downtown Honolulu. Both performances will begin at 8:00pm.

Kāmau was described by Honolulu Advertiser Drama Critic Joseph Rozmiarek as "a moving and powerful piece on the nature of personal and cultural compromise." The story centers around Alika, a Hawaiian man who works as a guide for a local tour company to support his adopted family. His employer offers Alika a promotion, at the same time informing him that the company has purchased and plans to build a hotel on the oceanfront land where Alika's family has lived and fished for generations. Weighed down with responsibilities, and confused by alcohol, Alika struggles with his conscience as he considers his alternatives. ,p. Kumu Kahua Artistic Director, Harry Wong and Kumu Kahua actor and Board member Wil Kahele, will co-direct the production. The cast features Kumu veterans Britton Adams, Chloe Amos, Dusty Behner, James K. Bright, Dawn Gohara, Annie Lokomaikai Lipscomb, Gilbert Molina, Aitofele C. Simpson Steele, Laurie Tanoura, and Derek Kekaulike Mar.

Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased with a credit card by calling 536-4441, or by visiting the Kumu Kahua Box Office between 11am and 3pm, Monday through Friday. Ticket prices for these two performance are $20 each.

WHAT: Kāmau by Alani Apio. This play contains strong language.

WHERE: Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant Street, Honolulu HI 96813

WHEN: Friday and Saturday, July 18th and 19th, 2008. Performance at 8pm.

TICKETS: Tickets for the Kāmau performances are $20, and can be purchased with a credit card by calling 536-4441, or by personally visiting the Kumu Kahua Box Office. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm.

Tickets are on sale now.

Kumu Kahua productions are being supported by the State Foundation on Culture & the Arts celebrating more than thirty years of culture & the arts in Hawai`i; the Mayors Office of Culture & Arts, Mufi Hannemann, Mayor; The Hawai`i Community Foundation; The Annenberg Foundation; & foundations, businesses & patrons.

The Art of Preservation

by Susan Soon He Stanton

July 26th - August 3rd

All photos by Cheyne Gallarde

Playwright Susan Soon He Stanton was born and raised in Hawai`i. Her full-length play, Whatever Happened to John Boy Kihano?, winner of Kumu Kahua's playwrighting contest, will be produced by Kumu in March 2009. Her plays have been performed in New York, London, California, Connecticut, and Hawai`i . From the Sloan Foundation she has received a best screenplay award for Rosalind's Helix and a feature film development grant. She is the literary manager of the New Sounds Theatre in New York City. She has a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, has studied theatre in London at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and will complete an MFA in Playwriting at Yale School of Drama in 2010. The Art of Preservation, which has been previously produced by New Theatre in New Haven and Flea Theatre in New York City, was published this year by Broadway Play Publishing.

Kumu Kahua productions are being supported by the State Foundation on Culture & the Arts, celebrating more than thirty years of culture & the arts in Hawai`i; the Mayor's Office of Culture & the Arts, Mufi Hannemann, Mayor; The Annenberg Foundation; and Foundations, Businesses & Patrons.