OUR PRODUCTIONS ARE SPONSORED IN PART BY THE FOLLOWING:

Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, the NME Fund of the Hawaiˇi Community Foundation, the Island Insurance Foundation, The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaiˇi, The AAPI Community Fund, The Richard Aadland Fund, The Hawaiˇi Tourism Authority, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Spectrum/Charter Communications, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, Hawaiˇi Public Radio, H. Hawaii Media, Simply Storage, Vacations Hawaiˇi, Zippyís Restaurants, Highway Inn, Generations Magazine, CVS/Longs Drugs, HMSA, Hawaiian Electric, MonkeyPod, and other foundations, businesses, and loyal patrons.

Mary lyon kamitaki,
PLAYWRIGHT

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Mary Lyon Kamitaki's plays have previously been produced by Playwrights’ Arena and developed at Page 73, Alliance Theatre, A Noise Within, Open Fist Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Skylight Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, and UCLA. She is an alumna of the New West playwrights’ group at EST/LA and the Page 73 writers’ group. Mary’s plays center mixed, queer girls and women who reinvent themselves to survive in transforming worlds. She was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, and now lives on the island of Manhattan.

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTES

When I began writing this play in 2016, during a graduate playwriting course, I thought of it as an exercise. I was confident it would never be staged, given how few American theatres are interested in producing new works with Pidgin-speaking actors. I‘m happy now to say that I was wrong. 

For me, this play is about change. It’s about loss and growth and what it means to come home. Developing it has been a way for me to return home to Hawai‘i even as I live and work on the mainland. To see it actually come to life here is a dream.

Mahalo to Harry Wong and Kumu Kahua for not giving up on this play, even through a pandemic, and to all the actors, directors, and readers who shaped it into what it is today. And to my family, for their support and inspiration. 

harry wong III,
DIRECTOR

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Harry Wong III has directed over 100 plays in his career, 52 of those plays were directed at KKT in his capacity as Artistic Director. Harry was the co-founder of HSF and a founding Board Member of the Lizard Loft. Awards he has received include the 2015 Ho‘okele Award recipient; second recipient in the non-profit art industry. Given to sustain quality service in the non-profit sector. 2010 recipient Outstanding Alumni of HCC, 1999 recipient of the SFCA Individual Artist Fellowship Grant for Theatre Directing; first non-playwright to be honored, 1996 Princess Grace Award for Theatre Directing Recipient; recommended by HTY for outstanding work in directing, 1996 Lincoln Center Theatre Director's Lab participant; result of a national search of young directors, 1995-1996 Allan Lee Hughes Fellow at Arena Stage Washington DC; result of a national search of postgraduate people of color entering the regional theatre scene and the 1991 & 1993 Masako Sakamoto Scholarship for Acting; given to Hawai‘i High School graduates studying acting or playwriting.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

 I don’t think you need to be guided through the many threads of Mary’s play, but it does make me think of something. 

Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s my friend Junior--you know my friend Junior, he’s a company actor at HTY--became obsessed with indie and foreign films at Honolulu Art Academy. I’d go with him sometimes weekly to the Academy. One of the films was about a son taking over his dad’s postal route in a rural part of China. At one point, the son’s father gets hurt and the son must carry him. At which a voiceover says, “You can never be a man until you’ve carried your father.”

What’s involved in that moment between child and parent?

Allan Okubo (Wally Chaves) first got involved with Kumu Kahua Theatre in 1991 when he did Pilgramage, Ed Sakamoto’s post-internment WWII play. He later was cast in Easy Street (1998), All I Asking for is My Body (1999), Aloha Las Vegas (2002 and numerous remounts the last one ending in 2022), Mahalo Las Vegas (2006) and It’s All Relative (2011). It’s always a pleasure returning to KKT and hopefully this won’t be the last time.

Sanae Tokumura (Becky Chaves) hails from Līhu‘e, Kauai. She was last seen at KKT in Beretania Snapshots. Previous credits include Titus Andronicus (HSF) and One Uddah Mid'summah (HSF). 

Ember Isabelo (Charlene Chaves) attends the Hawai‘i Conservatory of Performing Arts. She was last seen in Titus Andronicus (HSF). Prior credits include Medea (WCC), Antigone Now (WCC), and Something in Latin (Punahou). Ember received a Meritorious Achievement award from WCC. 

Violette Skilling (Jessica Coleman) attends the Hawai‘i Conservatory of Performing Arts at Windward Community College. She was recently seen performing in As you Like It (HSF). Prior credits include Antigone Now (WCC), Medea (WCC), and Aloha Attire (WCC). Violette is a recipient of the Dr. Dennis Carroll Scholarship. 

Stu Hirayama (Bruce Kaniho) As an actor, Stu has worked for many theatres; most recently he was seen in One Uddah Mid'summah (HSF). Previous credits include The Taming of the Shrew (HSF), Lucky Come Hawai‘i (KKT), Dance, Dance, Dance (UHM) and The Joy Luck Club (MVT). As a sound designer he has several designs to his credit for KKT, including Kimo the Waiter, Living Pidgin, and Voices from Okinawa.

Marguerite Saxton (Assistant Director) currently serves as the House Manager for Mānoa Valley Theatre in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and the Managing Director for the Honolulu Fringe Fest. Her directorial work encompasses absurd & avant-garde physical theatre. She is interested in stories told through the body, with little to no spoken language. Natural elements such as earth (desert) and water (ocean) inspire her. Rituals, spirituality, Latin American poetry, and metaphysics can all be found in her work. Marguerite is also an educator; teaching technical theatre and circus courses to youth,
teens, and adults.

Michael Harada (Set Design) was born and raised in Hawai‘i. He graduated from the University of Hawai‘i with a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees. His background encompasses drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, illustration, digital media, set design, prop, mask, puppet design and construction. He has shown his work in many exhibitions since the mid-1970s and is included in many collections.

In the early 1990s he started collaborating with Monkey Waterfall, a Honolulu based performance group that uses masks and puppets. That began his journey into the world of theatre designing and constructing masks, puppets, props and sets for Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Kumu Kahua Theatre, Manoa Valley Theatre and Leeward Community College’s Theatre department, where he taught visual arts, eventually becoming the visual arts discipline coordinator till he retired in 2022. Michael continues to produce artwork and design and construct masks, props and sets.

Kahana Ho (Sound Design/Lighting Design) has worked in tech most recently as the Lighting Designer for Kimo The Waiter (KKT), Audio Engineer for I Ke Kapua‘i o Kahu William Ellis and I Ke Kapua‘i o ka Mō‘īwahine Emma (Mele Series, HMH), and Sound Designer/Video Programming for Beretania Snapshots (KKT). In addition to tech design, she has been able to pursue her passion for acting, appearing most recently on stage as Sheila in Lovey Lee (KKT), Wainani Carson in Kāmau A‘e (KKT), Beretania in Beretania Snapshots (KKT), Emma Nakuina in Rediscovering History (HMH), and Sally Applewhite/Mary Hatch in It’s a Wonderful Life (MVT). When not acting, she has worked in various productions since 2012 as a set build crewmember, dresser, light and foley/sound designer and operator, stage manager, technical director, assistant director, and production assistant. 

Iris Kim (Costume Design) started sewing when she was 5 years old and began designing and constructing costumes when her eldest child got involved in theater in 2009. She has worked on productions at MVT, DHT, HSF, KKT, WCC and was the Assistant Costume Shop Manager at Kennedy Theatre at UHM. She is the costume designer at HTY.

Sara Ward (Properties Design) has designed props for almost every theatre on O‘ahu. Her favorite shows she’s worked on include Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Jamarama), Fiddler on the Roof (HPU), Seussical (DHT), The King and I (ACT), The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time (MVT), The Rocky Horror Show (MVT), and Folks You Meet in Longs (KKT). Sara has received four Po‘okela awards for her prop work, and in 2019 she received the Hawai‘i State Theatre Council Pierre Bowman Award. Sara is a member of the full-time professional staff at Kumu Kahua Theatre as the Office Manager.

THEATRE ABBREVIATIONS

Army Community Theatre: ACT
The ARTS at Marks Garage: AMG
All the World's a Stage: ATWAS
Central Theatre Arts Academy: CTAA
Diamond Head Theatre: DHT
EVOLVE Theatre Company: ETC
Hawaiian Mission Houses: HMH
Hawai‘i Opera Theatre: HOT
Hawai‘i Pacific University: HPU
Hawai‘i Shakespeare Festival: HSF
Honolulu Theatre for Youth: HTY
Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre: IONA
Kaimukī High School: KHS
Kumu Kahua Theatre: KKT
KOA Theater: KOA
Kīlauea Military Camp Theater: KMC
Kīpuka Theatre: KT
Leeward Theatre: LCC
Mid-Pacific Institute: MPI
Mānoa Valley Theatre: MVT
‘Ohana Arts: OA
Open Home Performance Network: OHPN
‘Ōhi‘a Productions: OP
On the Spot: OTS
Performing Arts Center of Kapolei: PACK
PlayBuilders of Hawai‘i: PBH
Palikū Theatre: PTW
The Actors’ Group: TAG
University of Hawai‘i Mānoa: UHM
Windward Community College (Palikū): WCC

KUMU KAHUA THEATRE
2024-2025

Managing Director: Donna Blanchard
Artistic Director: Harry Wong III
Office Manager: Sara Ward
Box Office Associates: Alyson Wong, Kathy Dombrigues, Max Pennington & Victoria Amara

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Acting President: Dann Seki
Recording Secretary: Jason Kanda
Elizabeth Errico
Karen Kaulana
Brook Lee
Annie Macapagal
Marcus Oshiro
Tony Pisculli
Teri Skillman
John H. Y. Wat
Victoria Wei