VNR: Hawaiian language and history at Kennedy Theatre

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Daniel Meisenzahl, (808) 348-4936
UH Spokesman, UH Communications
Posted: Sep 24, 2019

Hina Keala, Kaipu Baker, Imai Winchester
Hina Keala, Kaipu Baker, Imai Winchester
Imai Winchester and Jorin Young
Imai Winchester and Jorin Young
Clockwise: Imai Winchester, Kaipu Baker, Ākea Kahikina, Hina Keala, Dylan Chase Lee, Jorin Young
Clockwise: Imai Winchester, Kaipu Baker, Ākea Kahikina, Hina Keala, Dylan Chase Lee, Jorin Young

Link to video of play rehearsal and soundbites from director and casthttps://bit.ly/2mbPQkG

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance presents the world premiere of ʻAuʻa ʻIa: Holding On September 27 through October 6 on the Kennedy Theatre mainstage.

In this new production, four UH Mānoa haumāna (students) are transported into pivotal moments in the history of Hawaiʻi, meeting legendary figures, experiencing mele and hula in those times and witnessing their cultural history transpire. Kumu Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker, associate professor and director of the Hawaiian Theatre Program at UH Mānoa, is the playwright and director of this Hana Keaka (Hawaiian theatre) play, which will be performed predominantly in the Hawaiian language with bi-lingual segments.

Read the full Hawaiian and English language versions of the story at UH News: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2019/09/23/aua-ia-kennedy/

Link to video of play rehearsal and soundbites from director and casthttps://bit.ly/2mbPQkG

VIDEO B-ROLL (1 minute, 40 seconds):

  • Various shots of rehearsal

SOUNDBITES (in Hawaiian with English subtitles) : 

Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker - Auʻa ʻia: Holding On Director (12 seconds):
"The theater is a path by which we tell the stories and history of our ancestors as well as those moʻolelo of today, that is what weʻre doing here at Kennedy."

Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker (11 seconds):
"We will explicate the true history of Hawaiʻi's past and present to infer what it means to be Kanaka Maoli." 

Kaʻula Krug - UH Mānoa freshman (12 seconds): 
"The great amount of work that went into this production so that it may succeed in perfection is amazing. It is quite joyous and beautiful to experience and and take part in the resonance of ʻolelo Hawaiʻi through this theater every night of the week."

Kaipu Baker - MFA Hawaiian Theater (12 seconds):  
"ʻAuʻa ʻia is a genuine story, and, by confronting the realities of Kanaka Maoli, that is how we may recognize our right and authority to retain our heritage for the future of our people and the excellence of the generations to come."

(Still photo credit: John Wells)