Kumu Kahua Theatre

Kumu Kahua Theatre is a community theater located in the city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii. Kumu Kahua Theatre is best known for producing plays by local Hawaii-based playwrights, especially plays featuring themes and stories of the people of Hawaii. Therefore, actors are often featured utilizing their natural local dialect or respective ethnic accent, and many plays have incorporated or are solely written in Hawaiian Creole English, an English dialect commonly known in the Hawaiian islands as pidgin. Their productions are also known for involving local actors, designers, directors, and theater technicians. Appropriately the Hawaiian language words kumu kahua translate to "original stage." People familiar with the theatre often call it affectionately by its nickname of Kumu.

History

Kumu Kahua Theatre was founded in 1971 by graduate students of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with the goal of producing locally-written experimental works. The experimental nature of the theatre gradually disappeared in later years. In 1982, the group was granted not-for-profit status, and in 1994, the Hawaii State Legislature awarded the group its current 100-seat playhouse located in downtown Honolulu at . Dennis Carroll served as its artistic director for many years. Kumu Kahua's current artistic director is Harry Wong III.

Playwriting

Kumu Kahua Theatre also offers classes in acting and writing, as well as sponsoring an annual playwrighting contest in conjunction with the University of Hawaii at Manoa theatre department. The playwrighting contest categories are as follows: