STAGE REVIEW
Five characters in search of a queen's faith

By Joseph Rozmiarek
Advertiser Theater Critic

Nyla Ching-Fujii plays the title role in "The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu." Advertiser library photo 'The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu' 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m Sundays through Dec. 8 Kumu Kahua Theatre $16-$10 ($5 students on Thursdays) 536-4441

All the voices belong to women, and while the title role is that of the powerful Hawaiian queen who grasped leadership following the death of her husband Kamehameha I and destroyed the old gods and kapus, the drama comes from each one's personal journey through a time of great cultural upheaval.

Ka'ahumanu's dilemma comes in the form of a question. How much change can she accept in protecting her people from strong foreign powers that seem to bring only more ships, guns and disease? Despite her basic distrust of their new god, she is attracted by the kindness in the behavior of the missionary women who work so hard and are so physically puny.

Nyla Ching-Fujii plays the role with excellent articulation and deliberate strength. Her words resonate in the theater, each one important, richly enunciated and potent with meaning.

Sybil Bingham is the newly arrived missionary wife, battling heat and culture shock to spread God's word through teaching and example, but unprepared for the responsibility imposed by the queen to personally instruct her in matters of faith. Anne Marie MacPherson makes the role an excellent counterpoint to Ka'ahumanu, gentle where the queen is imperious, steadfast when the queen is indecisive.

All roles have their big moment in a monologue that speaks the essence of their character, delivered center stage with the rest of the cast on the periphery.

Mary Stringer's comes when missionary wife Lucy Thurston submits, without anesthesia, to radical breast surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

Dorothy Stamp as the hapa-haole young woman is torn between the pleading of a young lover and the missionary dictate that she must not mate outside of Christian marriage. Moani Miller as the outcast Hawaiian girl recognizes that she can begin a new life by adopting the missionary way.

All this is punctuated by musician Summer Duarte with traditional Hawaiian percussion instruments of bamboo sticks, gourds and stones.

The momentous dramatic action takes place offstage. The women's personal struggles take place in the more intimate settings of parlor and verandah. While Kneubuhl's script ends each of its two acts quietly and without dramatic fanfare, it draws its strength from five individual struggles that intertwine during a pivotal moment in Hawaiian history. "The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu" is an excellent chamber piece.