When Da Mayah debuted at Kumu in 1998, it broke box office records, drew rave reviews and inaugurated for playwright Lee Cataluna the creation of what would become a string of hit comedies. Now Da Mayah is back in all its wacky hilarity. The newly-elected mayor of Hilo, Lester Perez (campaign slogan: "Do What He Sez!"), is not too bright, but his administrative assistant, second in command and mistress Sandralene Leialoha Ferreira, manages fairly successfully to keep him from making a complete fool of himself.
When Lester is blackmailed by a childhood friend, Derek Pang, Sandy enlists the aid of her gangster cousin Dukie and his hit man Stanton, who has "a rap sheet thicker than the Bible" and a crush on Sandy. The action takes us from the mayor's office to Jazzmin’s Karaoke Bar and Washerette ("Karaoke solo $1.50, duet $4.00"), bringing to play assassination attempts, betrayals and bad plate lunches.
Sundays 2pm: August 31; September 7, 14, 21, *28, 2008
*American Sign Language Interpretation performance
Rolling The R’s
by R. Zamora Linmark
Edgar Ramirez, a Kalihi teenager "who looks like a Filipino John Travolta," knows that he is gay and isn't bothered by his schoolmates' taunts. Rolling the Rs is a play set in the disco years of the '70s, when high school students hung posters of Scott Baio, Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett, listened to Peaches and Herb, read Sixteen and Teen Beat magazines, and struggled with their identities as defined by ethnicity, nationality and sexual orientation. Edgar and his friends Katrina and Vicente exchange words with their classmates, dance, sing and experiment with sex in a free-floating, surrealistic story punctuated by the disciplinary voice of the schoolteacher, Mrs. Takemoto, and the judgmental gossip of Philippine-born and raised friends Mrs. Kayabyab and Mrs. Arayat. A Kumu Kahua world premiere.
*American Sign Language Interpretation performance
Mainland Education
by Scot Izuka
Cultures mix, match and clash at the University of Kansas in the early 1980s. Jerome, a second-year graduate student, is a third-generation Japanese-American from Hawai‘i. His roommate Yan is Taiwanese and still struggling comically with the English language. They meet the outgoing and assertive Cathy, born and raised in the Midwest, and her roommate Rei, a Japanese national who speaks English well but with an accent. As the four spend time together, they attempt to surmount difficulties created not only by language barriers but also by national identities and cultural mores. Jerome is self-conscious about others' interpretations of his Japanese appearance outside of Hawai‘i. He begins a relationship with Cathy but is later drawn to Rei, who is pressured by her parents about being with Jerome because, to Japanese people, he is a foreigner. As the school year progresses, the friends' mutual understanding grows, but not without difficulties. A Kumu Kahua world premiere.
Sundays 2pm: January 11, 18, 25; February *8, 2009
*American Sign Language Interpretation performance
What Ever Happened to John Boy Kihano?
by Susan Soon He Stanton
Winner of the 2006 Kumu Kahua Theatre/UHM Theatre Department contest, this Kumu Kahua world premiere deals with the mysterious disappearance of a child and the effects it has on his family. John Kihano, who likes to take his youngest son fishing, returns one day without him, offering only a vague explanation about the child going to stay on the Big Island with "Auntie Maile." The problem is, no one in the family has ever heard of Auntie Maile, whom John claims is a friend of his mother whom he hasn't seen for twenty years. He has no address or phone number for her. What really happened? Did John Boy drown? Was he kidnapped? His father remains silent, only offering assurances that he will return, without specifying when. As the days turn into weeks, the police become involved, the search continues, the mystery deepens, tensions mount, loyalties shift and the family begins to fall apart.
*American Sign Language Interpretation performance
DOUBLE BILL: Kalua`iko`olau & Waiting for a King
Kalua`iko`olau a Noh play by Kemuel DeMoville
A stylized and poetic retelling of the true story of Kalua`iko`olau, also known as Ko`olau the Leper, this play is set in Kalalau Valley on Kauai, where two travelers learn the story of how Ko`olau resisted the provisional government forces when they were sent to take him and his son to Kalaupapa on Moloka`i. Ko`olau and his wife and son escaped, but the soldiers forced the inhabitants to leave the valley forever so that no one help Ko`olau. The family lived alone in the valley until first the son, and then Ko`olau, died from their disease. A Kumu Kahua world premiere.
Waiting for a King by Krystal Ontai
It is the early nineteenth century in Hawai‘i, foreigners have begun to inhabit the islands and the Hawaiian kingdom is in a state of transition which will drastically affect the future. King Kamehameha will pass the throne to his son Liholiho. Kamehameha's high priestess Kaahumanu will create for herself the new post of kuhina nui, and his nephew Kekuaokalani will become custodian of the war god Kukailimoku. As the four offer differing opinions of what the future might bring and what action should be taken, a Chorus in the present look back at the past and forward into the future, contemplating the fate of the Hawaiian people.
A Kumu Kahua world premiere.
Kumu Kahua's 100-seat playhouse puts you at the heart of the drama. And
with well over 100 plays to our credit, our reputation attracts some of
Hawaii's most talented actors, directors, playwrights, designers and other
theater artists and technicians.
Da Mayah
Rolling The R’s
Mainland Education 
What Ever Happened to John Boy Kihano? 
Kalua`iko`olau a Noh play by Kemuel DeMoville
Waiting for a King by Krystal Ontai