The new play at Kumu Kahua Theatre is the unfortunate result of an idea with cultural significance that simply can't find solid dramatic footing on the live stage.

"Pele Ma" is adapted from the book by Frederick Wichman, based on the Kaua'i legends of the Hawaiian goddess Pele. The stage adaptation is by John H.Y. Wat, Kennly Asato and Laurel Nakanishi.

The format is story theater, where actors take on roles but also speak narration to describe events and advance plot. Act 1 is made up of seven stories, while Act 2 contains six.

This makes for choppy action that starts and stops, no strong central story line, and characters that declaim rather than evolve.

Wat also directs the production with a cast that is not up to the vocal demands of the script.

Although the dialogue is well paced and the cast has been drilled in picking up the cues necessary to choral speaking, articulation is poor and many of the difficult lines are sadly lost in the small theater.

Worse, the script and the staging pit dialogue against distracting action and — most unfortunately — other dialogue.

Many character monologues are spoken or chanted in Hawaiian while an English language version is simultaneously spoken by a second actor. One supposes the intent is to allow the listener to experience the flavor of the Hawaiian verse and — at the same time — absorb its meaning through translation.

This almost never worked during the first act of the production's opening night performance. The speeches dissolved into a conflicting babble of sound, losing not only the meaning of the translation but the strength and musicality of the Hawaiian words as well. The effect went past mere annoyance to genuine regret for some beautiful moments that weren't realized.

Only the character of demi-god Kamapua'a, the "great hog," emerged as a strong presence. Unflinchingly played by Aito Steele as an unabashed blend of male bravado and animal appetites, Kamapua'a is first mistaken as a sleeping pig. Covered with body hair and lusting for food and women, Steele makes the character so convincing that — when his malo comes undone in a rape scene — he turns an accident into a useful character element. But a single strong character doesn't save a first act where Pele herself makes only brief appearances. Otherwise, there is an overabundance of unattractive bare male flesh and a brief backlit, silhouetted suicide.

I understand that the second act features a love triangle, but I didn't stay to find out.

Joseph T. Rozmiarek has reviewed theater performances in Hawai'i since 1973.