Dennis Carroll's "Massie/Kahahawai" was written in the 1970s but never given a full production until now, directed by Harry Wong III and featuring a large cast.

Based on historical events, the action turns on racism and bigotry and captures no one in a positive light. Thalia Massie, a young wife of a Navy officer, claimed to have been beaten and raped by five young local men.

When the case resulted in a mistrial, Massie's mother, husband and two sailors kidnapped and killed one of the defendants — Joe Kahahawai. The killers were defended by famous attorney Clarence Darrow in a sensational trial, convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10-year prison terms. Territorial Gov. Lawrence Judd subsequently commuted the sentences to one hour.

Carroll is credited as "compiler" rather than playwright, and has crafted the script from trial records and secondary sources. Program notes say none of the dialogue is invented.

Consequently, the play adds no new information but takes the approach that the five men could not have realistically been guilty as charged and that Thalia Massie's testimony was built on lies.

The murder of Kahahawai was defended by master spin doctor Darrow as vigilante justice and readily accepted by a white upper class that feared the increasing pressure by nonwhite Islanders for a larger slice of the social and economic pie.

What actually happened to Thalia Massie — who clearly had been beaten and abused — remains a mystery. The nature and character of the five rape defendants is not touched, and the focus on how a blatant murder can be shrugged off does not become prominent until the second act.

Consequently, much of the action in Act 1 is tedious, while Act 2 rubs audience noses in something we'd prefer not to squarely confront.

Carroll and Wong do that nose rubbing in didactic style, exaggerating the action to the point of absurdity and never letting us forget that we're watching a theatrical representation instead of real life.

Thalia (Siobhan Edmondson) is presented from the first scene as a crushed puppet, mentally and physically damaged and literally manipulated by her husband (Max Smart), who coaches her walk and posture and assures that her legs are properly crossed.

Sections of descriptive narration are sung in chorus to the tunes of "Red River Valley" and "Mac the Knife." A minor character is presented as a wind-up doll, and the locals become furniture upon which the haoles sit.

The strong images not only underscore the point, they sometimes threaten to damage it through blatant and repeated exaggeration.

Ultimately, style predominates over story, leaving us looking for more than the compiled dialogue can deliver.

We'd like to know much more about the relationship between Thalia and her husband and the mental state responsible for the concocted rape story. We'd like to know the rape defendants as real young men with hopes and flaws, and know more about how their paths crossed with the Massies. We'd like deeper insight into Thalia's mother (Sylvia Hormann-Alper), who set out to force a confession and ended up brazenly justifying a murder.