Ala Wai

Bertram and Ernesto are two roommates who suddenly find themselves jobless and homeless. Ernesto has a drug habit and Bertram has an irrational but intense fear of tilapia. They take up residence beside the Ala Wai Canal, where they soon become engaged in a BB gun battle with Oscar, a seventh-floor resident of a nearby apartment, bringing the police. This fast-paced pidgin comedy turns surrealistic when Bert is stung on his privates by a portuguese man-o-war and miraculously acquires the ability, via urination, to heal wounds and clean up the waters of the canal. Will Bert use his new powers benevolently, or will greed prevail?

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: August 23, 24, 25, 30, 31; September 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 2007

Sundays 2pm: August 26; September 2, 9, 16, *23, 2007

*American Sign Language Interpretation performance

Ola Nā Iwi

First produced by Kumu Kahua during its 24th season (1994-'95), and written by a prolific playwright whose works have been regularly produced by Kumu Kahua and who has taught playwriting at Kumu, Ola Nā Iwi (The Bones Live) investigates the serious issues involving the treatment of indigenous human remains while simultaneously telling a story that is tender, humorous, mysterious and filled with plot twists and turns. Kneubuhl skillfully conducts a historical exploration of the pseudo-scientific and often racist motivations behind grave-robbing via a series of historical monologues presented by 19th-century professors, physicians and phrenologists. But the central story is contemporary, with the plot set in motion when a Honolulu theater group returns from an international tour with a set of Hawaiian bones "illegally" reclaimed from a German museum. Several characters appear in pursuit of the bones, for reasons which are not immediately clear, including the enigmatic Nanea, whose knowledge of Hawaiian history indicates that she may have the deepest connection and most important motivation of all.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: November 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 29, 30; December 1, 2007

Sundays 2pm: November 4, 11, 18, 25; December *2, 2007

*American Sign Language Interpretation performance

Pele Mā

Pele Mā is a narrative theater adaptation based on the book Pele Mā: Legends of Pele from Kaua`i (Bamboo Ridge Press, 2001) by Frederick Wichman. The first act is a series of stories about Pele and her companions, beginning with Pele's arrival on Kaua`i in a canoe, pursued by her angry older sister, Nāmakaokaha`i, goddess of the sea. Pele herself is a refugee from her homeland, which she has set afire. Also included in the first act are several stories about the pig demigod, Kamapua`a. The second act focuses on the famous love triangle among Pele, her sister Hi`iaka and Kaua`i chief Lohiau. Although Pele is most often associated with the Big Island, these stories remind us that the Pele legends have a strong link to the island of Kaua`i. Pele Mā was originally performed at Mid-Pacific School of the Arts. It also toured as part of the American High School Theatre Festival to the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: January 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31; February 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 2008

Sundays 2pm: January 13, 20, 27; February *10, 2008

*American Sign Language Interpretation performance

The Romance of Magno Rubio

Kumu Kahua presents the Hawai`i premiere of an award-winning play based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan, a migrant worker in the Depression-era California canneries who became a respected writer and activist. Magno Rubio was originally produced by the Ma-Yi Theater Company of New York. Set in a bunkhouse for migrant Filipino farm workers, the play tells the story of Magno Rubio, an idealist and dreamer who is both admired and taunted by his fellow workers. Nick, the resident intellectual, narrates Magno's long-distance courtship (via letters) of Clarabelle, an Arkansas woman he meets via a lonely hearts magazine. He sends her jewelry and money. Has Magno Rubio found true love? How do we define happiness or measure love? The play poses these questions while also dealing with the larger political issues of stoop labor and racism. Parts of Magno Rubio are written in rhyming verse and set to music.

Kati Kuroda will direct the production, with set design by Elizabeth Harwood, lighting design by Abel Coelho, costume design by Dusty Behner, sound design by Stu Hirayama, and Lynne Nohara is the stage manager. The cast features Kumu veterans Troy Apostol, Lito Capina, Cheyne Gallarde , MJ Gonzalvo, and Kumu newcomer Wayland Quintero.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: March 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29; April 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 2008

Sundays 2pm: March 16, 30; April 6, *13, 2008

*American Sign Language Interpretation performance

Hostage Wife

A Kumu Kahua world premiere, Hostage Wife is an award-winning play which has received a reading in New York. It tells the story of Dee Fernandez, a woman whose husband works as a private-sector security guard watching over a power station in Iraq. When her husband is taken hostage, Dee is visited by Alan Baker, a government agent who offers her comfort, companionship and, as they grow closer and when it is revealed that Dee's husband is violent, racist and abusive, the possibility of a new and brighter future. As the negotiations proceed, Dee's daughter returns from the mainland to help field phone calls from the media and visits from nosy neighbors and Dee herself, wafted into a semi-dream world through sleeping pills and pain pills, becomes ambivalent about herself, her marriage, and her desires for the outcome of the hostage situation.

Kumu Kahua artistic director, Harry Wong III will direct the production, with set design by Molly McKenna, light design by Abel Dulles-Coelho, costume design by Dusty Behner, sound design by Stu Hirayama, and props are by Jason Ellinwood, who will also serve as assistant director and stage manager. The cast features Kumu veterans Denise Aiko-Chinen, Jason Kanda, Will Kahele, Nani Morita, and Jodi A. Yamada, along with Kumu newcomers Mish Raboteau and Tyler Tanabe.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm: May 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31; June 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 2008

Sundays 2pm: May 18, 25; June 1, 8, *15, 2008

*American Sign Language Interpretation performance