It opens Friday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m., and plays thereafter on Saturdays, Oct. 20, Nov. 3, 10 and 17 at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m.; and Saturday Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $8 for youth (18 and under) and seniors (over 60). The play is recommended for ages 7 and older (not for very young children). For more information or to order tickets, call HTY at 839-9885. Tickets may also be ordered online at www.htyweb.org. The 1:30 p.m. show on Nov. 10 will be ASL-interpreted for the hearing impaired.

Kabuki expert Furumoto directs, choreographs and acts in this collection of three hair-raising, yet comic, tales, which he created as a subtle homage to the late storyteller Glen Grant.

"Obake" follows a group of students who have set out to investigate whether the stories of ghosts and spirit fires haunting a local cemetery are true. As they stumble through the dark, they meet a mysterious man who tells them about how such stories came to be.

The first story, "Earless Hoichi," tells of a blind musician and his horrifying journey into the spirit world.

The second tale is drawn from Furumoto's own personal experience one summer night on Maui – an experience he can find no earthly explanation for, even to this day.

And the final story is a return to Furumoto's great love for kabuki theatre, with a comic twist. Tired, cold and drenched to the skin, the classic kabuki travelers Yaji and Kita take refuge at a forest inn. Seeking food and a warm bed, they are instead scared witless by the tortured spirits that inhabit the inn – but they manage to tickle our funny bones at the same time.

Joining Furumoto in the cast are Nan b Asuncion, Kimo Kaona, Cynthia See and Ryan Wuestewald. Lighting design is by Hide Tsutsui; set and properties design is by H. Bart McGeehon, sound design is by Jason Taglianetti, hair and makeup design is by Newton Koshi, and costume design is by Samantha Fromm.

Furumoto is a Master Teacher of Kabuki and Kyogen Theatre and is professionally certified in Japanese classical dance. Currently an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Furumoto began his career at the University of Hawaii and HTY, and then went on to write, direct and act in theaters across the country.