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, 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. Hawaiʻi 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.

LEE A. TONOUCHI,
PLAYWRIGHT

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

LEE A. TONOUCHI had several plays produced before by Kumu Kahua Theatre. Some of his more recent-er ones wuz UchinaAloha, Gone Feeshing, and Echoes of dat Red Guitar. Da East West Players wen go do his play Three Year Swim Club, which wuz one Los Angeles Times Critic’s Choice Selection. His Pidgin poetry collection Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental

Faddah and Son: One Hawaiʻi Okinawan Journal won da acclaimed Association for Asian American Studies Book Award. Anden his children’s picture book Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos won one Skipping Stones Honor Award. His next play Our Okinawan

ʻOhana: Stories We Share from Hawaiʻi’s Uchinānchu Community going come out from Playbuilders of Hawai‘I in Fall 2026. One pretty trippy ting he did recent wuz he got invited for perform his Okinawan grandma story for The Moth at one sold out show at da world-renowned Hawaiʻi Theatre!

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE

So couple few years ago when I first discovered Alden M. Hayashi’s novel Two Nails, One Love I wuz like, Brahhhh, dis such one important book, more people should be reading ‘em. Das why I did one interview with Alden for The Hawaiʻi Herald. (Hawaiʻi’s beloved Japanese American newspapah stay gone now, but you can still read me and Alden’s talk story online. Da ting stay called “Things Japanese Americans Don’t Talk About”). I remembah coming away from da interview tinking, Ho, Alden’s such one nice guy, I really hope more people going read his story. Nevah I wen imagine that little ova one year later I would be getting da amazing opportunity for write da play adaptation of dis incredible book written by da nicest human being on da planet for my favorite-est theatre in da whole entire world! I feel truly blessed. I hope I did Alden’s novel justice. (Read da book if you nevah read ‘em yet!) And I really hope I made Papa Harry proud.

hARRY WONG III,
Director

NOLAN HONG (Ethan) was most recently seen in Princess and the Iso Peanut at MVT. Previous credits include Newsies (IABK), Happily Eva Afta (MVT), Once Upon One Time (MVT), and Happily Eva Afta with Ohia Productions. His TV and movie credits include television commercials as well as appearances on Doogie Kamealoha, Hawaiʻi Five-O and Lilo & Stitch.

REYN AFAGA (Anxious Ethan) is a theatrical artist based out of Honolulu. He has trained primarily as an actor and director under Dr. Paul Cravath, Betty Burdick, and Harry Wong III. Reyn is part of Kumu’s house improv team The Improv Superette and was recently seen on stage as King Hamlet in Hamlet (HSF) and Mama Rolange in Lovey Lee (KKT). 

SUN MIN CHUN-DAYONDON (Mother) is a McKinley grad and was most recently in Kim’s Convenience by Ins Choi at MVT. She was last seen at KKT in Obake by Edward Sakamoto.

ALAKAʻI CUNNINGHAM was trained at Windward Community College. His credits include Mai Po ina: The Overthrow at ʻIolani Palace, Aloha Kāua (WCC), Titus Andronicus (HSF), Kimo the Waiter (WCC), and Gone Feeshing (KKT). Alakaʻi is a trained fight choreographer and has worked on productions such as Green Lady of Wahiawa (WCC), Much Ado About Nothing (WCC), and Aloha Kāua (WCC). He received a Poʻokela Award for Best Supporting Actor for Oriental Faddah and Son and a Meritous Achievment award for Combat Choreography on Medea/Antigone Now.

STU HIRAYAMA has worked for many theatres; most recently he was seen in Da Mayah at MVT. Previous credits include One Uddah Mid'summah (HSF), The Taming of the Shrew (HSF), Lucky Come Hawaiʻi (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.

KAINUI LYMAN studied at the Hawaiʻi Conservatory of Performing Arts at WCC. He was last seen in Much Ado About Nothing (WCC). Previous credits include Morgans Corner (WCC) and A Dark and Stormy Knight (LCC). 

ERIKO OKADA is from Chigasaki, Japan. Since arriving in Hawaiʻi she has been seen on television in Hawaiʻi Five-O, NCIS Hawaiʻi and the film Static. This is Eriko’s first live stage production.

ALLAN OKUBO first got involved with Kumu Kahua Theatre in 1991 when he did Pilgrimage, 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). His most recent show at KKT was Southernmost in 2025.

DARRYL SORIANO was last seen in Beretania Snapshots at KKT. Recent credits include Kāmau ʻAe (KKT), Haoleland (KKT), Folks You Meet at Longs (KKT). Her previous acting credits include Chinee, Japanee, All Mix Up (UHM), The Watcher of Waipuna (KKT), and 38 Minutes (KKT).This is her second time stage managing, her last adventure was as Stage Manager for Lisa Matsumoto’s Once Upon One Time at LCC.

RON HELLER (Assistant Director) appeared on the KKT stage in Kāmau, and did sound design for KKT’s production of June is the First Fall. He received Poʻokela Awards as Director of a Play for two shows: Disgraced and The Mountaintop, both at TAG. Recent on-stage appearances include the 2023 and 2025 versions of Cemetery Pupu Theatre, and ʻAuʻa ʻIa: Holding On, a UH Mānoa production that was also performed at Theater for the New City in Manhattan. He has done shows at Mānoa Valley Theatre, Diamond Head Theatre, Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Kailua Onstage Arts and Hawaiʻi Shakespeare Festival. In 2023, he received an MFA in Theatre (directing) from UH Mānoa. In his day job, he’s an attorney concentrating on tax and business matters.

MICHAEL HARADA (Scenic Design) was born and raised in Hawaiʻi. He graduated from the UHM with a BFA. 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 90s 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 HTY, KKT, MVT and LCC’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.

SARA WARD (Properties Design) is a multi-hyphenate theatre practitioner. Her contributions in theatre range from playwriting, props design and spot op to box office management. She has received four Poʻokela awards for her prop work from the Hawaiʻi State Theatre Council.  In 2019 Sara Was awarded the Pierre Bowman Award which is given each year to a person "through whose efforts the life of theater in Hawaiʻi has been uplifted." Favorite prop designs include Fiddler on the Roof (HPU), The Rocky Horror Show (MVT), Kim’s Convenience (KKT) Folks You Meet at Longs (KKT), and The Kāmau Trilogy (KKT).

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
Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre: HOT
Hawaiʻi Pacific University: HPU
Hawaiʻi 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
2025-2026

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

Elizabeth Errico
Jason Kanda
Brook Lee
Dann Seki

Board of Stakeholders

Alvin Chan
Carolyn Corley
Julia Gilman
Brandon Haggio
Denny Hironaga
Karen Hironaga
Kahana Ho
Jason Kanda
Iāsona Kaper
Monica Lee
Shannon Murphy
Ryan Okinaka
Jonathan Reyn
Dann Seki
Teri Skillman
Darryl Soriano
John Wat
Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak