Racial issues take to Island stages
Advertiser Staff
Two very different dramas with racial overtones will hit community theater stages next week.
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'Two Trains Running' reveals great struggles
The Actors' Group
"Two Trains Running," by Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, features an all-black cast. The time is 1969, a tumultuous period that includes the Vietnam War and the rise of black power; the setting is Pittsburgh, in a restaurant where the customers struggle all their lives against inner-city poverty and deprivation.
From left, Russ Goode, Donna Sallee and Derrick Brown are among the actors in "Two Trains Running," by Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson. The production is directed by Leonard Piggee.
The production, by The Actors' Group, is directed by Leonard Piggee, founder and director of the Honolulu African American Repertory Theatre. The cast includes Derrick Brown, Honey Brown, Gemini Burke, Russ Goode, Moses Goods, Leonard Piggee and Donna Sallee.
Opens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, repeating at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays (no show Jan. 30) and 4 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 8 at the Yellow Brick Studio, 625 Keawe St. Tickets: $10. 722-6941.
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'Massie/Kahahawai' focuses on court cases, murder
Mike Harada
One of the most controversial and, some would say, shameful events in Hawai'i history is explored in the new drama "Massie/Kahahawai," a Kumu Kahua production.
Siobhán C. Edmondson plays Thalia Massie, and Max Smart portrays Thomas Massie in Kumu Kahua's "Massie/Kahahawai." The production is directed by Harry Wong III.
In September 1931, Thalia Massie, socialite wife of naval officer Thomas Massie, reported she was raped. Five local men were arrested and tried; a mistrial was declared, and the men were freed. Lt. Massie, Thalia's mother, Grace Fortescue, and two enlisted men kidnapped and murdered defendant Joseph Kahahawai.
These new defendants were represented by famed trial attorney Clarence Darrow. They were found guilty of manslaughter, but territorial Gov. Lawrence Judd commuted their sentences.
Playwright Dennis Carroll has created a docu-drama from court records, newspaper stories and other sources. The production is directed by Harry Wong III.
The cast includes Kumu Kahua veterans M.J. Gonzalvo, Sylvia Hormann-Alper, Craig Howes, Jason Kanda, Neal Millner, Eric H. Mita, and Aito Steele, and newcomers Alison Arnold, Hank Chapin, Siobh‡n C. Edmondson, Ashley Larson, Annie Lokomaika'i Lipscomb, Vince Keala Lucero, Martin Monahan, Michael A. Proffitt and Max Smart.
Opens at 8 p.m. Thursday, repeating at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 6 at the Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant St. Tickets: $5-$16. 536-4441.
