Lee A. Tonouchi Named August Winner of Go Try PlayWrite Contest

Playwright Lee A. Tonouchi, known as “Da Pidgin Guerrilla,” has been named the August 2025 Go Try PlayWrite winner for his piece It’s Not His Nose That Grows. Co-sponsored by Kumu Kahua Theatre and Bamboo Ridge Press, the contest nurtures local playwrights with monthly prompts and awards.

Tonouchi, who writes in Hawai‘i Creole English, has had numerous plays produced by Kumu Kahua Theatre, including Gone Feeshing, Living Pidgin, Da Kine Space, Echoes of Dat Red Guitar, and UchinaAloha. His play Oriental Faddah and Son was produced at Palikū Theatre, while Honolulu Theatre for Youth staged his youth play Three Year Swim Club; an adult version later produced by East West Players in Los Angeles earned a Los Angeles Times Critic’s Choice selection.

Each month, Go Try PlayWrite offers Hawai‘i playwrights a new writing challenge. All submissions are read anonymously by Kumu Kahua Artistic Director Harry Wong III, with winners selected by a rotating guest judge from the Hawai‘i theatre community. Winners receive $100 and a subscription to Bamboo Ridge Press.

Entries are now open for the September 2025 contest. Complete details and submission guidelines can be found on the Kumu Kahua Theatre website.

Kumu Kahua Theatre productions and programs are supported in part by The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, the NME Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, the Island Insurance Foundation, The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, The AAPI Community Fund, The Richard Aadland Fund, The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Spectrum/Charter Communications, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, Hawai‘i Public Radio, H. Hawaii Media, Simply Storage, HUB Coworking, Vacations Hawai‘i, Zippy’s Restaurants, Highway Inn, Generations Magazine, CVS/Longs Drugs, HMSA, Hawaiian Electric, MonkeyPod, and other generous foundations, businesses, and patrons.

Hawaii Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. PARADE (Manoa Valley Theatre)

28.4% of votes

2. IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS (Diamond Head Theatre)

19.2% of votes

3. ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (Manoa Valley Theatre)

14.4% of votes

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