Kumu Kahua Theatre Opens 55th Season with World Premiere of SMOTHER

Kumu Kahua Theatre will launch its female-forward 55th season with the world premiere of Smother, a new comedy by Hawaiʻi theatre artist Sara Ward. Directed by Harry Wong, III, the production will run August 28–September 28, 2025, at the historic Merchant Street venue. 

Ward, a longtime Kumu Kahua team member and skilled props designer, makes her professional playwriting debut with a story about a loving but meddlesome mother determined to control her adult daughter’s romantic life. As Marcia (Shannon Winpenny) hatches increasingly outrageous schemes to find Julia (Kirstyn Trombetta) the “perfect” partner, both women must confront the limits of love, control, and independence. The cast also features Kenia Chacon, Andrew Chow, Daron Gaskin, Alysia-Leila Kepa‘a, Kirk Alexander Lapilio, Kris10 Misaki, and Jackie Young.

Smother was developed in Kumu Kahua’s community playwriting workshops, led by playwright Lee A. Tonouchi, and marks the first of several new works in a season celebrating strong women’s voices. The run includes the debut of Kumu Kahua’s new Ladies Night series, beginning with a September 12 social at downtown’s Black Shamrock, featuring themed drink specials and a buy-one-get-one ticket offer for that evening’s show.

Kumu Kahua’s 2025–2026 season will also include Outlandish by Eric Anderson (Nov. 6), Two Nails, One Love by Lee A. Tonouchi (Jan. 22), Blu’s Hanging by Lois-Ann Yamanaka, adapted by R. Zamora Linmark (Mar. 26), and Memory Beads by Diane Aoki (May 28).