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  • Kumu Kahua Theatre

    Does anyone know much about Kumu Kahua Theatre?

    I never heard of the Kumu, until tonight. In fact, I learned about it rather serendipitously. Apparently they had a meeting at my work place, and one of their members accidentally blocked in my car (an honest mistake, since we have weird tandem parking stalls). I stuck my head into a fairly crowded conference room, to ask who the owner of the car was.

    It turned out to be a friendly woman who told me about the theatre. I found their website here, and after browsing around a bit I came across this play:

    "Da Mayah" by Lee Cataluna


    Is this the same Lee Cataluna at the Advertiser? If so, it's pretty cool to see her do all sorts of writing. Looks like it was so popular, they extended the run till October. Too bad I didn't learn about it until now.
    "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
    "You gotta get me to the tall corn." --David Mamet, Spartan
    "
    Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

  • #2
    Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

    It's been a while since I attended a play at the Kumu Kahua Theatre and yes it is the same Lee Cataluna and some of her other plays have been shown there.

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    • #3
      Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

      Originally posted by helen View Post
      and yes it is the same Lee Cataluna
      Cool

      It's nice to see the Kumu has a Wikipedia entry. I didn't find much historical info on their website. Kudos to whoever contributes to the Wikipedia entry.

      Looks like they've been around since 1971, and got their playhouse in 1994.
      "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
      "You gotta get me to the tall corn." --David Mamet, Spartan
      "
      Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

        i've seen many plays there and have enjoyed each of them very much. if "Da Mayah" or any other of Lee's plays is being performed - definitely go to see it! you will laugh your head off and maybe shed a few tears too.
        "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
        – Sydney J. Harris

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        • #5
          Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

          Kumu Kahua is a valuable cultural entity in Honolulu. It used to have an annual script contest and would produce the winning script for performance. I don't think it does that anymore.

          edit: oops. it does.

          I have seen some terrific performances by Kumu Kahua, but unlike anapuni808, I can't say I've enjoyed each of them "very much." Any theater company that tries to do stuff that's different or nontraditional takes certain risks, and sometimes the results have been less than enjoyable. On the other hand, they really took off when they acquired their own space in the former downtown post office building and have done a great job of getting people into the theater—a lot of people who might not otherwise make an effort to see live theater.

          I think there's where most of Kumu's value in recent years lies: producing culturally relevant work that's accessible and popular. As you can imagine, that has its drawbacks, too. Lee Cataluna is a talented writer, and there's something to enjoy about each of the plays I've seen from her. On the other hand, she too eagerly goes for the easy laughs even when situations don't need them. Some of her characters are shallow stereotypes (usually by design) but rather than flesh those stereotypes out into the kinds of people we know in real life, she's more likely to play up those stereotypes because they are easy and funny. Still, there's a thread of poignant truth that runs through her work, and if she would stick to that, I think she'd do her audience (not to mention her art) a great service.
          Last edited by scrivener; December 3, 2008, 10:29 AM.
          But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
          GrouchyTeacher.com

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          • #6
            Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

            I tend to go to plays where I either know the author, an actor or if it seems like an interesting story. I have never been disappointed. Probably if I would attend every play they produce - there would be some I didn't like. The one play I missed that I know I would have liked is the one my daughter was in.

            As for Cataluna's plays - they are entertaining. That's why I go to a play (or a movie, concert etc) - to be entertained. I don't pay attention to what the reviewers say or critics of productions - I make my own choices and usually totally enjoy the ones that get panned! guess I'm pretty "low-brow" huh?
            "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
            – Sydney J. Harris

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            • #7
              Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

              Not necessarily, and I wouldn't know based strictly on what you've written about your enjoyment of these plays. But let me give you an example of what I mean, so that it doesn't sound like this is just some English teacher who only loves the dead white guys.

              Did you see Kumu Kahua's production of Cataluna's Aloha Friday? It was pretty good. There's a character who works at the Kauai cable TV station in which this play is set. He's a regular local Joe, kind of thin, kind of hard. He lays cable all day. In fact, this is his mantra, spoken in perfect pidgin by the actor who plays him. "I lay cable. 'Ass what I do," he says multiple times. It's very funny, mostly because I think it rings true. We know guys like this. They work super hard during the day and then they hang with the guys after work, splitting a coldpack of Bud Lights before heading home.

              I can't remember what device (or character) Cataluna uses, but about three-fourths of the way through the play, someone states rather plainly (and to the great surprise of the other characters) that the cable-layer is gay. It's a funny moment when the character says that yes, he is in fact gay.

              Now, the play could have continued just wonderfully with this new knowledge of this character; he wasn't really a central character anyway, more like a supporting comic relief. There could have been moments where, despite his tough-guy exterior, he now could have admitted certain preferences or feelings he's kept hidden for all these years before being outed. Instead, the next time we see him, he's wearing a cut t-shirt, tied well above his navel, ridiculous amounts of makeup, and tight, cutoff, denim short-shorts. He adopts a caricature-like, feminine, ultra-stereotypical mahu manner of speaking. Is it funny? Sure it's funny. Is it realistic? I suppose it could be, since we all know people who do dress and speak this way. My problem is that 'though it may be funny and even semi-believable, it's cheap. We're laughing at all the same things we've (sometimes callously) laughed at for decades when male actors have portrayed what they imagine to be flaming homosexuals. There isn't a thing here that's new or that we haven't laughed at a million times.

              I suggest that if Cataluna had allowed this character to continue to be the rugged, muscular, working-class Joe he's been but with a few additional freedoms that come with being out, it could have been even funnier—but maybe not the laugh-out-loud kind of funny. It would have been more difficult to write, and undoubtedly more difficult to act, but it would also have given her audience more than a few bites of cotton candy. I'm not talking about turning Aloha Friday into King Lear; I'm talking about letting the audience experience real comedy: the kind that makes you laugh until you cry.

              Her plays are thoughtful and insightful, just as her newspaper column is. The play touches on themes we're all very familiar with: a mainland company wants to buy the local TV station, and everyone devoted to that station is afraid it will lose its localness. That's a challenging setting for a comedic play, but she handles it (mostly) like the skilled writer she is. But by resorting to cheap, easy stereotypes without letting some of her characters develop as thoughtfully as the rest of her characters, she does her play (and her audience) a great injustice.

              I don't know what critics said of this play, to be honest. What I've written here are my own thoughts and I have never heard them echoed by anyone else. Cataluna's plays are loved, and she deserves it. If I were talking about a less skilled playwright, I wouldn't bother writing all of this because what would be the point? I don't consider her audiences to be low-brow at all; I do think that when Cataluna goes for the easy laugh, she treats them as if they were.

              edit: here's a pretty good review of the play; the character I'm talking about is wearing the yellow hardhat in the first photo.
              Last edited by scrivener; December 3, 2008, 03:45 PM.
              But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
              GrouchyTeacher.com

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              • #8
                Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

                The last one I saw was Darrell Lum's A Little Bit Like You, from a few years back.

                Here's a review:

                http://archives.starbulletin.com/200...es/story2.html

                It was okay. Darrell's daughter played the lead role. But what I remember most on the evening that I went is that the actress who played her best friend came down with laryngitis and couldn't say a word!

                But typical of Kumu Kahua's infomal nature, they didn't have an understudy fill in. Instead, they had someone just offstage visibly seated in a chair and reading out her lines while the hoarse actress "mimed" her performance. The results were mixed. I'm familiar with the script and the girl reading the lines sounded a little stiff. (I understand that this may have been a last-minute thing, but they really needed someone who sounded more "tita.") But it seemed like the audience appreciated the effort and it wasn't too distracting from the overall presentation.
                This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

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                • #9
                  Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

                  Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
                  But typical of Kumu Kahua's infomal nature, they didn't have an understudy fill in. Instead, they had someone just offstage visibly seated in a chair
                  They are not the only theatres on Oahu who do this.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

                    Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                    [...]edit: here's a pretty good review of the play; the character I'm talking about is wearing the yellow hardhat in the first photo.
                    Interesting insight, Scriv. It became evident reading your missive that whoever played the cable layer had to be one heck of an actor. My brain did a quick casting file check trying to guess who it might be. Thanks for the link. Of course...Daryl Bonilla. That kid's really good.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

                      Originally posted by tutusue View Post
                      Interesting insight, Scriv. It became evident reading your missive that whoever played the cable layer had to be one heck of an actor. My brain did a quick casting file check trying to guess who it might be. Thanks for the link. Of course...Daryl Bonilla. That kid's really good.
                      Das Muh Bank!!!
                      This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Kumu Kahua Theatre

                        On the topic of comedy, Dave Chappelle is one of my favorites. His acts contain both cheap laughs and social commentary. When a comedian points out something we know to be true, but we don't admit, we laugh to cover our discomfort and because we're relieved someone else has said it. That's the best kind of joke, IMO.

                        (of course sometimes all we want is a really good sh*t joke)
                        "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
                        "You gotta get me to the tall corn." --David Mamet, Spartan
                        "
                        Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

                        Comment

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