KUMU KAHUA THEATRE PRESENTS TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF “THE WORK”

The hilarious directing challenge is back for the first time in two years on September 11, showcasing a short script selected from Kumu Kahua’s Go Try PlayWrite contest.

WHAT: The ultimate theatre challenge is back and better than ever! Kumu Kahua Theatre presents “The Work,” live on stage at Kumu Kahua in downtown Honolulu after a two-year pause due the pandemic. Audiences are invited to a hilarious showdown between two emerging directors, showcasing their work back-to-back with a local script in a fun, creative, and competitive format.

This year’s free evening of laughs and friendly competition will be hosted by “The Work” creator, Jason Kanda, with directors Kaipo Dudoit and Poʻai Lincoln going head-to-head to bring to life their own interpretation of Co-Habi-fʻn-Station by Sean-Joseph Choo. Choo’s script represents the first time “The Work” will present material selected from the theatre’s monthly, Go Try PlayWrite contest.

Each director is allowed a limited amount of time to stage the same prepared, but unrehearsed, scene, using the same actors. While the actors will have a chance to memorize their lines from Choo’s script, the directors won’t get to speak with the cast or technical crew until the night of the show—getting just 15 minutes each to direct the actors in the same scene, performed immediately after it’s rehearsed!

WHEN/WHERE: Sunday, September 11 at 7 p.m. The Work is presented live on stage at Kumu Kahua Theatre, located at 46 Merchant Street in downtown Honolulu.

INFORMATION: Admission to “The Work” is free, with no tickets necessary. Local writers are also encouraged to apply to the Go Try PlayWrite contest, with new prompts and opportunities to win available every month. Learn more at www.kumukahua.org or call (808) 536-4441.

Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by the NME Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, 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 and the American Rescue Plan of 2021, McInerny Foundation (Bank of Hawai‘i, Trustee); The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Hawaiian Electric Company, Alexander & Baldwin, The John R Halligan Charitable Fund, Spectrum/Charter Communications, Vacations Hawai‘i, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, Hawai‘i Public Radio, The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, Edric Sakamoto, Ron and Rachel Heller, and other foundations, businesses, and loyal patrons.