Kennedy Theatre Presents DON'T BE ABSURD

Late Night Theatre at the University of Hawai'i at Mnoa kicks off the spring semester with DON'T BE ABSURD: An Evening of Existential Drama, a double-bill featuring Samuel Beckett's Play and Edward Albee's The Zoo Story. Both Absurdist dramas, it will be an evening exploring the absolute power of language.

Play, Directed by MFA candidate in Directing Ike Webster, tells of the shared experiences between a man, his wife and his mistress, each character individually encased in a large urn. Although the show is highly abstract, Webster explains the universality of the production due to humanity's natural inclination to always be in search of something. "We are all searching for something... Our inability to 'let things be,' even when faced with the absolute uselessness of searching is what defines us. Play is about that search. Play is that search. It is the inability to let go." Webster has compiled a fine company of performers with an intimate three person cast including: KoDee Martin, a UHM student concurrently pursuing a graduate degree in Math and a Bachelor's in Theatre. Martin is flanked on either side by Rachel Uyeno and Annastasia Fiala-Watkins, both MFA candidates in Western Performance. Director Webster, most recently, was the Director and Music Director of A Charlie Brown Christmas at Diamond Head Theatre.

Sharing the evening's program, is New York City-based director and fellow MFA candidate in Directing, Jackob G. Hofmann directing The Zoo Story, which follows the events that transpire when a successful publishing executive is confronted by an erratic and highly effusive loner on a bench in Central Park. With only two actors and a single bench commanding the stage, The Zoo Story is an exploration of the human condition and our need to connect with one other. Hofmann explains that his production is "economically bare-bones" and that his main focus of this production is the magnificently complex characters created by Albee and his powerful use of language. "Albee's use of language is timeless, as well as timely. It is a gorgeously disturbing narrative. Our goal is to present an evening of cracklingly provocative theatre." With long-time performer Saul Rolla