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Kumu Kahua Theatre is a community theatre located in the city of Honolulu on the island of O'ahu in the state of Hawai'i. Kumu Kahua Theatre is best known for producing plays by local Hawaiʻi-based playwrights, especially plays featuring themes and stories of the people of Hawaiʻi.
The actors are often featured utilising their natural local dialect or respective ethnic accent, and many plays have incorporated or are solely written in Hawaiʻi Creole English, an English dialect commonly known in the Hawaiian islands as pidgin. Their productions are also known for involving local actors, designers, directors, and theatre technicians. Appropriately the Hawaiian language words kumu kahua translate to "original stage." People familiar with the theatre often call it affectionately by its nickname of Kumu.
Kumu Kahua Theatre was founded in 1971 by graduate students of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with the goal of producing locally-written experimental works. The experimental nature of the theatre gradually disappeared in later years. In 1982, the group was granted not-for-profit status, and in 1994, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature awarded the group its current 100-seat playhouse located in downtown Honolulu at 46 Merchant Street. Dennis Carroll served as its artistic director for many years.
Kumu Kahua Theatre also offers classes in acting and writing, as well as sponsoring an annual playwriting contest in conjunction with the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa theatre department. The playwriting contest categories are as follows:
Hawai'i Prize: This award is open to Hawai'i residents and nonresidents, and the play must be set in Hawai'i or involve some aspect of the Hawai'i experience.
Pacific/Rim Prize: This award is open to Hawai'i residents and nonresidents, and the play must be set in or involve the Pacific Islands, the Pacific Rim or the Pacific/Asian-American experience. Resident Prize: This award is open only to residents of Hawai'i at the time of submission, and the topic of the play is unrestricted.
THE TEAM
Donna Blanchard, Managing Director
Harry Wong III, Artistic Director
Margaret Welch, Office Manager
46 Merchant Street;
Honolulu HI 96813
USA
kumukahuatheatre@hawaiiantel.net
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.