Updated at 11:26 a.m., Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Hilo community theater leader dies
Advertiser Staff
Paul Mark Clark, a Hilo theater director who helped launch "Shakespeare in the Park" 30 years ago and organized other productions that brought community theater to young and old alike, died Saturday at Hilo Medical Center after a long fight with cancer and diabetes. He was 63.He was a longtime volunteer at the East Hawai'i Cultural Center in Hilo and was active in the Friends of the Pana'ewa Zoo and other causes.
"Everything he did supported both the theater and visual arts ... He just thought it was something that should be the lifeblood of the community," said Jackie Johnson, drama professor at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo.
Together, Johnson and Clark started the "Shakespeare in the Park" program centered around Kalakaua Park that continues to this day. Johnson said that as a lawyer, Clark "knew how to fight for a cause" and used his communication skills to persuade county officials to support the program in its infancy by closing the streets and providing electricity and other needs.
Clark directed at least 20 plays, from Christmas events for children to serious drama such as "Long Day's Journey Into Night" by Eugene O'Neill, one of his favorite playwrights. He helped produce another 80 productions, including "The Cave Dwellers" that concluded a performance an hour before his death. In 1992, he received the Pierre Bowman Award for lifetime achievement at the Po'okela theater awards in Honolulu.
He was born Sept. 14, 1943, in Auburn, Wash.
A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Sept. 14, with ashes to be scattered in Hilo Bay the following day. Memorial contributions may be made to the East Hawai'i Cultural Center or other charities in which Clark was involved. The family may be contacted at P.O. Box 1956, Hilo 96721.
Clark is survived by his brothers, Hugh, a retired Honolulu Advertiser reporter, and Tom, and a sister, Joan.
