"We are doing one musical, Lee Cataluna's 'Ulua: The Musical,' even if that musical doesn't have a happy ending," said Harry Wong III, Kumu's artistic director. "A lot of what we're doing this season, unlike other theaters, is offering drama with difficult subjects."

One show deals with neglect of a daughter who imperils herself when she meets someone on the Internet. Historical drama involves the lynching of a Japanese store owner on the Big Island, raising issues about race and tradition.

"We're focusing on the quality of a story, not second-guessing what an audience wants — the happy ending," he said.

The productions:

• "Tea," by Velina Hasu Houston, to be produced in August. A revival of a 1990 Kumu production, about four Japanese women — all post-World War II immigrants with American servicemen husbands — who meet at the home of a fifth, who has committed suicide. The women drink tea together as they clean up the house and come to know the dead woman, who haunts the play as a restless spirit.

• "Age Sex Location," by Dennis Carroll, set for an October launch. About four generations of a local family, who confront the complexities and perils of cyberspace, coupled with other challenges — of financial troubles, Alzheimer's and parent-child conflicts — amid the intensity of Internet gambling and online dating and chat rooms. A four-member "Compuchorus" shouts out Internet jargon, pop-up advertising and Instant Messages, enabling the computer to become a sinister character with a voice.

• "Ulua: The Musical," with book and lyrics by Lee Cataluna and music by Sean T.C. O'Malley, opening in January. A revival of a 1999 Kumu production, dealing with life, love and fishing on Maui, and focusing on a local boy, Kayden Asiu, who leaves his job, his Soloflex and his fiancee Lylas on O'ahu to explore his options on the Valley Island, where Butchie and Clyson, two co-workers, introduce him to all-night ulua fishing.

• "The Songmaker's Chair," by Albert Wendt, to be staged in March. About migrant families who have made Auckland and Aotearoa their home, amid struggles of conflict, continuity and change facing three generations of an extended Samoan family. Sold-out audiences greeted the play when it had its world premiere in New Zealand recently.

• "Another Heaven," by Eric Anderson, debuting in March. The historical drama, which was the 2001 winner in Kumu Kahua's playwriting competition, is based on a true story, about racial conflict, ambition and greed in late 19th-century Hawai'i. Katsu Goto, the owner of a general store, tries to help the Japanese plantation workers stand up for their rights against their foreman and the plantation owner, resulting in violence, an investigation, and the revelation of long-held secrets.

All performances will be at Kumu Kahua's 100-seat theater in downtown Honolulu.