Kumu Kahua Theatre Honored by State House of Representatives

On opening night of Pelicans by Eric Yokomori, State Representative Matthew S. LoPresti will present Kumu Kahua Theatre with certificate recognizing 45 years of producing locally developed plays.

The presentation will be followed by the world premiere of Pelicans and an opening night reception with Representative LoPresti and his wife Julia, the cast, crew, board members and theatre staff.

Kumu Kahua Theatre is a special and unique place, not just in Hawaii, but worldwide says Representative LoPresti. With its decades long commitment to highlighting Hawaiian experiences and our unique local culture, it has created and filled a niche of creativity and catharsis that we as a community cannot do without. My wife, Julia LoPresti, and I are longtime supporters of performing arts, and have been attending shows at Kumu Kahua Theatre for years. I am proud to be in a position to be able to facilitate legislative recognition of the important cultural contributions the theatre has made to the community since its opening in 1971 and I look forward to many more years of enjoying plays about Hawaii, by Hawaiians, and for people of Hawaii.

State Representative Matthew S. LoPresti, Ph.D. (University of Hawaii at M?noa) is currently serving his first session at the Hawaii State House as Vice-Chair of the House Transportation Committee, and member of Education, Higher Education, Labor and Public Employment committees and the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization. Representative LoPresti is Chair of the Asian Studies Program at Hawaii Pacific University and has been teaching philosophy since 1999. While at HPU (since 2004) he has expanded his teaching to include courses in religious studies and inter-disciplinary humanities.

The theatre received similar recognition from the State Senate in 2005 for their 35th year in production.

Pelicans is a darkly humorous, tale of disaffected kids stumbling into the dangers of reality. The play asks: what is more important: our words or our actions? This often-shocking absurdist parable follows three modern-day urban wanna-be soldiers to their ultimate defeat.

Kumu Kahua Theatre has produced the world premieres of several of Eric Yokomoris plays; Yokomori is a local playwright.

Show Days and Times:

Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm:
March 24, 25, 26, 31
April 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 2016

Sundays 2pm:
March 27
April 10, 17, *24, 2016

*American Sign Language Interpretation upon request
(No show Sunday April 3 ? Easter)

Tickets for performances can be purchased with a credit card by calling 536-4441, or by visiting the box office at 46 Merchant Street (corner of Bethel and Merchant Streets, downtown) between 11am and 3pm Monday through Friday. Tickets can also be purchased at KumuKahua.org.

Ticket prices are $5-$20.

Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by The Hawai?i State Foundation on Culture and Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaii and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Also paid for in part The Hawaii Tourism Authority, The Hawaii Community Foundation, McInerny Foundation (Bank of Hawaii, Trustee); Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) Charitable Foundation, The Atherton Foundation and Hawaiian Electric Company; The Star-Advertiser and other foundations, businesses and patrons.

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