Double feature will wrap up Kennedy Theatre's late-night season

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Matthew Kelty, (808) 956-2598
Director of Publicity, Kennedy Theatre
Kennedy Theatre Box Office, (808) 956-7655
Posted: Mar 27, 2014

Ali Diop and Matthew Kelty in "Our Man"
Ali Diop and Matthew Kelty in "Our Man"

UH Manoa's Late Night Theatre series will wrap up its 2013-2014 season with a unique double feature: the Hawai‘i premieres of “Our Man” and “The Puppet Booth." The plays will be performed at 10 p.m. on April 4, 5, 11 and 12 at Kennedy Theatre’s Earle Ernst Lab space, with a brief intermission between the shows.  Ticket prices include entry to both of the evening’s performances.

The Late Night Theatre series is presented by a student organization of the Department of Theatre and Dance.  The group’s artistic mission is to present theater not otherwise available to Honolulu audiences, by producing challenging works from some of today’s most dynamic playwrights — including world premieres of work written or adapted by members of the University community.  The series is entirely managed by students, and is deliberately kept low-budget and “low-tech” in order to emphasize students’ acting and directing skills.

The first show of the evening will be “Our Man,” directed by MFA candidate Lani Winskye.  This play was originally a “devised” work, created collaboratively by members of the News Orleans theater company Goat in the Road Productions (three playwrights – William Bowling, Chris Kaminstein and Sascha Stanton-Craven – are credited with creating the piece), and the UHM production will mark the first performance by actors who are not members of the company.  Mixing politics, pop culture from the mid-20th century and a free-wheeling improvisational vibe, the play explores myth-making, masculinity and the media.  Man A (Matthew Kelty, just seen at the Earl Ernst in “very still & hard to see”) and Man B (Ali Diop, making his Kennedy Theatre debut) are co-hosts of a radio program that reads letters from soldiers back to the home front.  The action – and the letters – become more and more absurd as the play circles back upon itself; fights break out, a tennis racquet is elected supervisor, and mail most assuredly does not get sorted.  “This play is definitely funny,” says Winskye.  “But I love that there’s also an edge to it, and an underlying melancholy.  There are layers of meaning for audiences to ponder — but in the end, I want them to leave the theater laughing.”

The evening’s second show, “The Puppet Booth,” is directed and adapted by MFA student Maseeh Ganjali; the original play was written by Russian symbolist poet Aleksandr Blok.  Blok utilized characters from commedia dell’arte in his play; but he turned those well-known types on their heads, portraying their troubles as tragedy rather comedy.  Ganjali has altered the play to reflect his own interests, incorporating dance – “at least half the play is dance,” he says – and utilizing singers to form an a cappella “human orchestra” that will accompany the action and provide the play’s “score.”  The Kennedy Theatre production will be the world premiere for Ganjali’s adaptation.

Tickets for “Our Man” and “The Puppet Booth” are available at the Kennedy Theatre box office on performance nights, one hour before the show.  Prices are $10 for general admission; $8 for seniors / military / UH faculty and staff / UHAA members / students; and $5 for students with a validated Fall 2013 UHM photo ID.  Ticket prices include all service fees, and cover entry to both shows.  For further information, please visit the department’s website at www.hawaii.edu/kennedy, or call the theater at (808) 956-7655.  For disability access, please call the theater.

EVENT:

“Our Man” and “The Puppet Booth”

PRESENTED BY:

UHM Department of Theatre and Dance

WHEN:

April 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 10 p.m.

WHERE:

Earle Ernst Lab Theatre at UHM’s Kennedy Theatre

1770 East-West Road, Honolulu

TICKET PRICES:

$10 general admission

$8 seniors / military / UH faculty and staff / UHAA members / students

$5 UHM students with validated Fall 2013 UHM photo ID

PURCHASE INFO:

Tickets are available at the Kennedy Theatre box office on performance nights, one hour before the show.

For more information, visit: http://hawaii.edu/kennedy/2013/doublefeature/index.php