Play's environmental theme boosted by new music

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

From left, Bulldog, Kelly Williams, Monica Cho, Nara Springer Cardenas and Aito Steele appear in "The Last Paving Stone," a Honolulu Theatre for Youth production featuring guitar work by Kapono. Brad Goda 'The Last Paving Stone' 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and March 15 and 22 Leeward Community College Theatre $12 general, $6 students (18 and younger) and those older than 60 839-9885 Note: The 4:30 p.m. March 15 performance will be sign-interpreted.

"Don't it always seem to go," she lamented, "that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?"

The inhabitants of the world a girl named Ito lives in don't know. In fact, they've been too busy enjoying the benefits of rampant progress — more smooth paths for their scooters, for instance — to ponder such a question. But before Honolulu playwright Y York's "The Last Paving Stone" concludes, they'll have little choice but to question their actions.

York's story, as performed by Honolulu Theatre for Youth, is built around Ito and her valiant (and near-solitary) struggle to save the last open patch of ground in the world from being cemented into oblivion. What does Ito know that rest of the world doesn't?

"Ito is a kid with ears the size of dinner plates," said York. "Her ears are so big that she can hear the ground, which nobody else can. And so the ground is her friend."

The ground, no surprise, has had much to say of late about the world above it. Amplifying its thoughts via acoustic guitar work written and performed for the play by Henry Kapono, the ground communicates its feelings musically (and wordlessly) with Ito and the audience.

And irony of ironies! Ito's father turns out to be this world's foremost authority on paving.

"He's the Paving Master," corrected York. "And he's very proud of his paving stones. The world is proud, too, because this magnificent feat has been accomplished. There's just this one kid who doesn't, though, and people think she's just wacky."

York wrote "Paving Stone" in the mid-'90s, imagining a piece where orchestral music would provide the "voice" of a central character. Working with composer Robin Holcomb, York eventually reduced the ground's voice to a quartet (the power of an orchestra, York felt, might overwhelm the other character's parts). Commissioned by the Idaho Symphony and the Idaho Theatre for Youth, "Paving Stone" was last performed there in 1998.

"This will be the first time it's being done with Henry's music," York said of the play's Hawai'i debut.

A longtime supporter, originator and participant of local environmental protection work, Kapono was handed the "Paving Stone" script and asked if he'd be interested in reinterpreting the musical voice of the ground for HTY.

"It wasn't that complicated," insisted York, laughing. "We asked. He said yes. And we did it. We're really lucky."

Kapono's Hawaiian- and blues-tinged work evolved over hours of "Paving Stone" reading and rehearsals.

"There's no English ... no language! Just music!" said York. "It'll be very clear what the ground is saying, though. You'll know."