Auditions Set for Kumu Kahua's Production of Lois-Ann Yamanakaʻs BLU'S HANGING Adapted for the Stage by R. Zamora Linmark
AUDITIONS SET FOR KUMU KAHUA’S PRODUCTION OF
Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s Blu’s Hanging
Adapted for the stage by R. Zamora Linmark
Directed by Jason Kanda
Sunday December 7 at 6pm
Monday December 8 at 6pm
at Kumu Kahua Theatre
46 Merchant Street Honolulu, HI 96813
Performances will be from March 26 - April 26, 2026. Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:00 pm, Sundays at 2:00 pm. There is the possibility of added performances.
Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. Sides will be provided. Actors can prepare a monologue from the script if they desire to but it is not required.
Please note any conflicts on audition form.
Script Synopsis:
A Hansen’s Disease survivor begins to lose his grip on reality as he mourns the death of his wife, while struggling to provide for his three children in an environment of economic dearth, educational lack, and sexual predation. The eldest child, Ivah, is offered a lifeline when a compassionate teacher helps her apply to a private boarding school. Learning that she has been accepted, Ivah must decide whether staying, or leaving, will best allow her to care for her father and siblings.
CAST
(PLEASE NOTE: All roles will be played by adults)
Poppy (Bertram Ogata): local Japanese man in his early-to-mid 40s
Mama (Eleanor/Ella Ogata): local woman in her 30s. She is three years younger than Poppy, but appears only in flashback
Ivah Harriet Ogata: 13-year-old daughter to Bertram and Ella
Presley Vernon “Blu” Ogata: 8-year-old son to Betram and Ella
Maisie “Pidge” Tsuneko Ogata: 5-year-old daughter to Bertram and Ella
Evangeline (Vangie): 13-year-old Japanese-Filipino girL
Blendaline: 9-year-old, Japanese-Filipino girl
Uncle Paulo / Mr. Iwasaki / Uncle Myron Local man, 30s
Aunty Betty: Poppy’s youngest sister, 30s
Big Sis (Faith Ann): Eldest daughter of Aunty Betty and Uncle Myron. (Doubles as Vangie)
Lili Beth: younger sister of Big Sis (doubles as Blendaline)
Mitchell Oliveira: 14-year-old Portuguese boy (doubles as Uncle Paulo / Uncle Myron / Mr. Iwasaki)
Mrs. Susie Nishimoto / Tammy Owens: Haole woman, 30s-40s
Miss Sandra (Sandi) Ito: Local woman, 30's (doubles as Ella or Aunty Betty)
You can read the script by Clicking Here
Call the Kumu Kahua Theatre office 536-4222 or email officemanager@kumukahua.org if you need more information.
Jason Kanda is a 25-year veteran of Honolulu's theatre scene with directing credits at KKT, HSF and AMG. Past KKT directing credits include The Ventriloquist by Mark Tjarks, Da Kine Space by Lee Tonouchi, Kimo the Waiter and Folks You Meet in Longs (2011 production) by Lee Cataluna and #haoleboyfriend by Tony Pisculli and Stephanie Keiko Kong.
Poet, novelist, and playwright R. Zamora Linmark is the author of seven books, including The Importance of Being Wilde at Heart, and three full-length plays. He has received grants and fellowships, including Japan-United States Friendship Commission, National Endowment for the Arts in Poetry, and two from the Fulbright Foundation. He has taught, as Distinguished Visiting Professor in Creative Writing and Literature, in colleges and universities in the U.S. and the Philippines; his last post was the Roger F. Murray Chair in Creative Writing at Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Forthcoming publications include Eh, No Talk Li’Dat, an anthology on Pidgin, or Hawai‘i Creole English, which he compiled and edited, and Dalamhati, his fifth poetry collection. He lives in Honolulu and is at work on a new play and novel.
Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, Timothy and Eddie, the NME Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the Island Insurance Foundation, The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaiʻi, The AAPI Community Fund, The Richard Aadland Fund, The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Spectrum/Charter Communications, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, Hawaiʻi Public Radio, H. Hawaii Media, Simply Storage, HUB Coworking, Vacations Hawaiʻi, Zippy’s Restaurants, Highway Inn, Generations Magazine, CVS/Longs Drugs, HMSA, Hawaiian Electric, MonkeyPod, and other foundations, businesses, and loyal patrons.