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Our 2006 - 2007 Season
Our season opens with Mahalo Las Vegas by Edward Sakamoto. Wally
Fukuda left Hawaii and is living happily ever after in Vegas until
circumstances shift and new variables are introduced. Wally's son and
daughter-in-law have moved out of his home, replaced by California Harry,
a luckless gambler who is hiding out from his creditors. Wally's daughter
and her husband visit from Hawaii, bringing some surprises. And, a
reluctant Wally and Harry are pursued by two tenacious women, one the
widow of a mob boss. Sakamoto's Aloha Las Vegas, which
precedes the action of this play and deals with Wally's decision to sell
his house in Honolulu and make the move to Vegas, will be performed as
benefit performances for Kumu Kahua. Thursday & Saturday 8pm: August 24, 26, 31, September 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23 Sundays 2pm: August 27, September 3, 10, 17, 24, 2006
Friday 8pm: August 25, September 1, 8, 22, 29 Saturday 2pm: August 26, September 2, 9, 16, 23, 2006
In Troy Apostol's Who the Fil-Am I?, three Filipino-Hawaiians from
Hawai`i, all in their mid-twenties, take a trip to the Philippines. Malcom
has been there before, as an Ivy League college student teaching English
to high school kids, and he's the only one of the three who speaks
Tagalog. Ronald, his cousin, is a surfer without much desire to experience
the world outside of Hawai`i until this trip. Tomas, Ronald's best friend,
appears at first to be little more than a jive-talking, beer-guzzling
party animal. Personalities clash and tempers flare as the priorities of
the trip are heatedly debated and all three struggle to come to grips with
their ancestry and their multi-ethnic, multi-cultural identities. Their
odyssey gives theatergoers a taste of life in the Philippines as the trio
travels from Manila and Makati to Baguio and the sacred caves of Sagada,
and from a descent into the underworld to a new level of enlightenment and
understanding of themselves and one another. This play was originally
produced at Leeward Community College. Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: November 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 30, December 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 2006 Sundays 2pm: November 12, 19, 26, December 3, 10, 2006 ADVISORY: Adult situations and language. 
For Living Pidgin, Lee Tonouchi, the author of Da Kine
Dictionary and the short-story collection Da Word, who was
dubbed "Da Pidgin Guerilla" by an English teacher at U.H. Manoa, has
collected short plays and theatrical vignettes that showcase his facility
with Pidgin, his sense of humor, and his love of life in the islands.
The show will play at Kumu Kahua from January 11 through February 11.
This play contains strong use of Hawaiian Creole English and Pidgin
English situations. "How Fo Be Local in 5 Easy Steps" features a flirtatious, egotistical documentary filmmaker whose actors have a reality script of their own. "7 Deadly Local Sins" reveals the humorous character flaws of Hawai`i's Local society, as told by an aloha shirt-wearing, downtown businessman walking down Fort Street Mall. "Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son" is a comic, yet heartfelt monologue about the strained relationship between a son and his Oriental Faddah. "Dey Say if You Talk Pidgin You No Can" collects advice students have received over the years on how speaking Pidgin will limit them in life. "Hawaiian Hero for Hire" introduces the world to Hawaiian Man and his superhero sidekick Haole Boy, as they struggle to find relevance for Hawaiian culture in today's fast-paced, cash-money world. "Pijin Wawrz" takes place in Future Hawai`i, where Pidgin is outlawed and only the Pidgin Rebels can take on the impossible mission of rescuing the rumored lost Pidgin archives. Kumu Kahua Artistic Director Harry Wong will direct the production, with set design by Dean Bellen, costume design by Alvin Chan, and sound design by Stu Hirayama. The cast features Kumu veterans Pukaua Ah-Nee, Daniel Kalahele, Kristen Nonaka, D. Tafa`i Silipa and Darryl Tsutsui. Making their Kumu debuts are Jaeves Iha, Julia Nakamoto, and Jeremy Wagner. Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: January 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, February 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 2007 Sundays 2pm: January 14, 21, 28, February 11*, 2007 * American Sign Language Interpretation
Alani Apio's Kāmau, first produced by Kumu Kahua for its 1994
summer tour of the Islands, was described by Honolulu Advertiser
theater 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. No pat answers or one-dimensional characters are offered in
Kāmau (which means to persevere) as the playwright explores
the complex interrelationships, moral ambiguities, and harsh realities of
life in contemporary Hawaii. Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: March 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31, April 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 2007 Sundays 2pm: March 18, 25, April 1, 15, 2007
In Teacher, Teacher by Anthony Michael Oliver, Sharon Kido is a
forty-year-old, unmarried college English teacher who, as she describes
it, loses her cool on the last day of class and scolds her students for
being drifters, dreamers, and slobs who can't speak, dress, or even walk
properly, and have no manners, respect, goals, or plans. Gavin, one of
her students, takes her words to heart and later asks her to help him
change by giving him lessons over the summer. When the local-style
Pygmalion process begins, the teacher-student relationship is maintained.
But, as the weeks go by, the situation changes. Playwright Anthony
Michael Oliver was the winner of the 2002 Kumu Kahua Theatre and
University of Hawaii at Mānoa Playwriting Contest's Hawai`i Prize for
his play Theme Park.
Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: May 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31, June 1,
2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 2007 Sundays 2pm: May 20, 27, June 3, 10, 17, 2007
For more information about individual shows, or becoming a Season Subscriber, call 536-4441, or write to kumukahuatheatre@hawaiiantel.net.
Plays from 2005-2006
Mahalo nui loa to Kumu's Generous Donors!Donate to Kumu Kahua (MS Word)
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46 Merchant Street, Honolulu, Hawai`i 96813 Box Office Phone: (808) 536-4441 Email: kumukahuatheatre@hawaiiantel.net • URL: www.kumukahua.org |