Kumu Kahua Theatre and Conch Shell Productions Announce Featured Playwrights of the 2nd Annual Reset Series

Honolulu-based Kumu Kahua Theater is collaborating with New York City-based Conch Shell Productions to present the second annual Reset Series - a remote collaboration featuring live streamed performances, followed by Q&A's with the artists on July 24th & July 31st at 2PM HST / 8PM EST/ 7PM CST.

The series includes nine new plays by writers of color, each inspired by the theme: FEMALE STRENGTH.

Last summer, the two theatres (along with Braata Productions) formed an alliance called Reset Theatre Coalition designed to spotlight playwrights of color in America and their responses to current events and/issues. In the midst of the #BLM response to police brutality, the coalition brought their communities of BIPOC writers together to produce a live-streamed series of short plays reflecting diverse views on oppression in America and prompting dialogue between their artists and communities. That collaboration was archived in Conch Shell Press' publication of short plays - WE'RE NOT NEUTRAL: RESET SERIES 2020 COLLECTED SHORT PLAYS.

This July, Reset Series 2021 will feature nine new short plays written by Caribbean Diaspora, and Asian American and Pacific Islander playwrights that explore the courage and strength of women when faced with challenges. Featured Reset Series 2021 playwrights include Tanya Perez, Hannah Ii-Epstein, Phanesia Pharel, Lee A. Tonouchi, Gretchen Suárez-Peña, Kimiye Everard, Jeannie Barroga (Lifetime Member, Dramatists Guild), L. Trey Wilson, and Michelle De Joya.

Reset Series 2021 is partially funded by a grant from the 2021 NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program).

"The A Word" by Hannah Ii-Epstein

Emily watches her new roommate Amanda's feminist blog and can't control the goddess within her.

"Denial in Okinawa" by Lee A. Tonouchi

In this political allegory when a U.S. soldier strikes up an unwanted conversation with a Okinawan woman, how does she get him to leave?

"Surge" by Tanya Perez

A couple going through a divorce is stuck in the very last place they thought possible: a Florida motel room in the middle of a vicious hurricane. Will they make it out alive?

"Inheritance" by Kimiye Everard

A daughter away at college has a momentous and revealing monthly FaceTime call with her mother.

"Thank You" by Phanesia Pharel

A young woman enters a hospital, not to seek a patient but to thank someone who left her behind.

"The Bystander" by L. Trey Wilson

A woman witnesses a tragic event that has her reflect on her past and alters her future.

"Options" by Jeannie Barroga, Lifetime Member, Dramatists Guild

Grandma takes on battles, in gaming and in street attacks. Countering more unseen conflicts, her grandson weighs in on what response to choose - what 'weapon'?

"See the Light" by Michelle De Joya

Through the eyes of the "hot and fiery she-demon" Lilith, banished to a private cell in hell for daring to want to be Adam's equal, this is a metaphorical look at the suffering woman.

"Moon Walker" by Gretchen Suárez-Peña

Anisha can't sleep. Insomnia comes to visit and further torment her hoping to turn her into an eternal moonwalker. Will Anisha ever escape Insomnia's annoying stronghold?

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