STAGE SCENE
'Edge' celebrates unusual styles
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
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| Lopaka Kapanui created his one-man "A Pagan Tattooed Savage" based on "how Hawaiians experience stereotypes, from the outside, and from among their own people." It premieres Tuesday at The ARTS at Marks Garage.
'On the Edge' A mini-season of Pacific regional works at The ARTS at Marks Garage "Ola's Son" A play by Misa Tupou 9 p.m. today and Saturday "Telling Moves" A play with dance by Peggy Hunt 6 p.m. today through Sunday "A Pagan Tattooed Savage" A play by Lopaka Kapanui 8 p.m. Tuesday through Feb. 2 "Mapaki" A play by Dianna Fuemana 8 p.m. Feb. 19-24 $15 for all plays; tickets at the Hawai'i Theatre box office 528-0506 |
Two are being unveiled this week, a third premieres next week (see box for details), and a fourth in mid-February, all at The ARTS at Marks Garage, the downtown haven for the haunting and unusual. The commonality is twofold: The works have Pacific ties and they reflect a synergy of performing styles and visions.
"I'm calling it a season of edgy stuff," Bostock said. "Two shows are derived from poems; one is extraordinary storytelling with physical theater, the other with dance and masks; music has a role in some instances. The other show looks at stereotypes. And they all make you think."
Here's what's in store:
'Ola's Son'
Life influences art in Misa Tupou's "Ola's Son," which opened last night and repeats tonight and Saturday. Originally staged last year, it is based on a poem by Lisa Linn Kanae, who was inspired by the 1998 police shooting of a Samoan man in Palolo Valley, and is heavily influenced by Physical Theatre, according to the author-actor, who adapted the piece for the stage.
"It's not conventional theater, where a person speaks to another person and they react to each other," Tupou said.
A lot of sweat has gone into this one. "It's a very physical piece, with a lot of movement and energy, and I lose weight when I do the show," he said. "I put on weight when I don't do the show.
"When I heard Lisa read her poem in a Kumu Kahua program, it really appealed to me. It was dramatic, yet filled with sadness, of losing someone close to you. While the influence was a Pacific islands immigrant family, I adapted it to life in the Western culture, to appeal not only to one particular group or region."
Lani Girl, whose real name is Kameha'ililana Waiau, joins Tupou in this reincarnation. "She plays the main character, and my job is to inject comments and statements," he said.
Tupou originally is from Auckland, New Zealand, and is temporarily living in Hawai'i. He expects to bring the show to Wellington for spring performances between Feb. 14 and March 16.
'Telling Moves'
Peggy Hunt, University of Hawai'i dance professor, has packaged a mixed bag in "Telling Moves," so titled, because, she said, "in order to tell a story, you have to move, and the moves tell a story."
The work opens a three-performance run tonight. It's 75 minutes of dance with narrative, physical theater, "with all sorts of movement, mime and dance. Some pieces have words, others don't. There's music."
And surprises. Like, a coterie of masks, created by her art-school cohort, Lily Pink, in from New York for this journey of bizarre, quirky, family fun. Yes, bring the kids.
Hunt, who was involved in the University Theatre's ambitious "Dragonquest" some years ago at Andrews Amphitheater (Pink helped with masks then), is also prepping for a Kennedy Theatre main-stage show, "Eco-Circus," in the spring.
But "Telling Moves" is her latest baby. It originally premiered as a solo show during her six-month residency in Singapore last year as a research fellow at the National Institute of Education.
"It was time to get moving on my own routes, to be a performer," she said of the latest vehicle, which includes characters as diverse as a frog and an old woman.
Singaporeans found enchantment in her work. "I was told it doesn't seem like storytelling, more like theater," she said. "And it's provocative enough to suit both adults and children."
The 6 p.m. curtain caters to family outings and kids under 12 are free, so go for it!
'A Pagan Tattooed Savage'
It started as poetry included on a CD, "Poems Without a Net," and evolved into a one-man play, which opens a four-performance schedule Tuesday.
"A Pagan Tattooed Savage" is based on stereotypes, says Lopaka Kapanui, its author and actor, "of how Hawaiians experience stereotypes, from the outside, and from among their own people."
It also is somewhat of a mirror of who Kapanui is and what he thinks. His difficulty, he said, was trying to shape characters that were shreds of himself: Hawaiian teacher, poet, wrestler, Buddhist, tour bus driver.
"Robert Pennebacker, who did the CD, suggested I turn the poem into a play, and Tim Bostock was interested in producing it," Kapanui said. "Until Robert told me to think of the real-life characters as characters, and not me, I had trouble."
He was spurred to create the poem as a member of the Hawaiian community. At a time of a Hawaiian renaissance, he said he felt Hawaiians were far too judgmental about what their peers said or felt or even the cars they drove. "Like, there's a scene where one Hawaiian is giving another Hawaiian a problem, because he's a Buddhist, raising the question, how can you be a Hawaiian and a Buddhist, when most Hawaiians are Christians, Protestants or Mormons?"
He managed to eke out 12 characters, tackling issues ranging from domestic violence to transgender choices. His play title, he said, is intended to be a symbol of rebellion.
Turns out that Kapanui, who is in his late 30s, has been scribbling poems since he was in the sixth grade, when he turned to poetry to express his sentiments to a girl he adored at Waipahu Elementary. "I was just too shy to confront her, so I wrote down my feelings. From then on, I wrote a lot of poems, even love notes, influenced by James Taylor and Don Henley. I know I have ex-girlfriends here and on the Mainland whom I've written to, and I had one call, after the CD came out, and was asked, 'When are you going to include me?' "
