Variety spices up Isle theater offerings
Advertiser Staff
Kumu Kahua and college crews are busy this week, offering two plays that explore the darker recesses of the human experience, a directors' battle and a weekend workshop:
• "Andrea/Agave" delves into the depths of mental illness as it tells the story of Andrea Yates, of Houston, who in 2002 was convicted of drowning her five children in a bathtub. It also incorporates Euripides' "The Bacchae," about Agave, who was possessed by the god Dionysus and driven insane.
John Rita and Lisa Grozen-Smith perform in "The Rimers of Eldrich," premiering Thursday at Leeward Community College Lab Theatre.
"Andrea/Agave," written in the spirit of the recent "Massie/Kahahawai," is presented as part of Kumu Kahua's Dark Night Absolutely Theatre series. The cast includes Reb Beau Allen, Kathy Hunter and Harry Wong III; Taurie Kinoshita directs.
8 p.m. Sunday and Monday at Kumu Kahua Theatre. Tickets are $5. Reservations: 536-4441.
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• "The Rimers of Eldrich," about the scandals, gossiping and dangerous folk in a small Iowa town in 1966, was written by Lanford Wilson. A student cast of 19, directed by Paul Cravath, brings this drama to the stage as Leeward Community College's spring production.
8 p.m. Thursday through April 10 and 15-17 at LCC Lab Theatre. Tickets are $7. Reservations: 455-0549.
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• "The Work," also part of Kumu Kahua's Dark Night series, pits two emerging directors — Shawn Thomsen and Jason Kanda — in an "Iron Chef"-like competition. Each will be given the same amount of time to stage the same prepared, but unrehearsed, scene, using the same actors (Marya Takamori and Janice Terukina) on the same night in front of an audience. The scene is written by Lee Cataluna, who also is an Advertiser columnist.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kumu Kahua Theatre. Tickets are $5. Reservations: 536-4441.
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• "Celebrating Local Theatre," sponsored by Kumu Kahua and the University of Hawai'i Department of Theatre and Dance, is a one-day conference at UH's Kennedy Theatre Saturday. Register at 8:15 a.m.; workshops begin at 9 a.m.; a panel discussion starts at 1:30 p.m. The conference is open to all who have an interest in theater, from acting to playwriting. Admission is $15 general, $10 students. Call Kumu Kahua at 536-4222.
