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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 23, 2003

Wahiawa students act out war days in play

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer

WAHIAWA — Using ropes to simulate barbed wires and muslin bags as gas masks, children at Wahiawa Elementary School act out scenes that took place in their

Fourth-grader Alonzo Arnett, foreground, leads classmates in taiko practice at Wahiawa Elementary School. Taiko instruction was provided by Chizuko Gilenda.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

community more than 60 years ago.

Kanoe Anduha is one of 15 students in JoAnn Hirayasu's fifth-grade class rehearsing on a recent Wednesday morning. With her hands on her sides and a projected voice, Kanoe emulates a radio announcer to introduce a skit: "Reporting from Wahiawa, Hawai'i, there will be a mandatory test of all gas masks this Saturday at Wahiawa Elementary School."

The scene that follows is just one of dozens in "A Life Disrupted: The Dec. 7, 1941 Project," a play consisting of a series of vignettes based on real-life accounts of Wahiawa residents who lived through what marked the beginning of the U.S. role in World War II.

"This is to show how the lives of people in Wahiawa were affected by the bombing," said fifth-grade teacher Muriel Watanabe, "and getting the kids to relive a part of history."

"A Life Disrupted," a play by Wahiawa fourth- and fifth-graders, is the product of a collaboration between the school, community and Honolulu Theatre for Youth.

The play marks the halfway point of a three-year drama education project, called The Dec. 7, 1941 Project, which is a partnership between HTY, the University of Hawai'i Oral History Center and the UH history department. The project allows third-, fourth- and fifth-graders of Wahiawa to develop a personal connection with the historic events that took place here long before they were born.

At a glance

"A Life Disrupted: The Dec. 7, 1941 Project"

• 7 p.m. March 5 and 13; 8:20 a.m. March 6; and 8:30 a.m. March 14

• Wahiawa Elementary School cafeteria

• Free admission

• 622-6393

Students gathered oral histories from survivors of the attack, then used skills they learned through HTY's drama education to transform the stories into the play. Organizers also enlisted the help of local artists and musicians, including HTY playwright Y York, taiko instructor Chizuko Gilenda, Hawaiian musician Calvin Ho and choreographer Peter Rockford Espiritu.

Watanabe's students will re-create scenes from the lives of two Wahiawa residents, including Sadao Honda, a 79-year-old retired dentist. Honda had just graduated from high school in June 1941 and was 18 years old when the world changed forever.

Honda told students how children spent summers before the war: carefree, swimming in Lake Wilson, diving off railroad trestles and stealing pineapples for snacks. He also shared with them how on the day of the attack, enemy planes strafed Wahiawa and how a family across the street ended up with bullet holes in their bathtub.

"They had really exciting lives," said fifth-grader Michael Belcher, adding that he learned a lot from the interviews and had fun doing them.

Honda had a great time sharing his stories, as well.

Tara Ziegler rehearses scenes from "A Life Disrupted: The Dec. 7, 1941 Project" with fourth-graders.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I enjoyed it, and they gave me a lei and a school T-shirt," Honda said and laughed. "I'm a graduate of that school, too, and I appreciated it."

HTY's director of drama education, Daniel A. Kelin II, hopes students take advantage of this creative learning experience.

"The students (should) come away from it with a better understanding of all they are capable of accomplishing," Kelin said, "not in a final production but through the entire process."

While students are learning about drama and history, they are picking up other lessons, too.

"Like values," Watanabe said. "An appreciation of what everyone has gone through and how families got together and protected one another."

They're also learning what it means to be part of an ensemble.

"You should see them," Watanabe said with a big smile. "They work really well together."

Fifth-grader Vanessa Bocobo agreed.

"We all have fun working together as a team," she said.

Students said audience members can also learn a few things from the play. One moral stands out in Kanoe's mind: "That we shouldn't have war 'cause there's no use for it."

Reach Zenaida Serrano Espanol at zespanol@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.