Thursday, March 07, 2019
Hawaiʻi’s Theatre Landscape
HowlRound Theatre Commons: There is a movement happening in the arts scene in Hawaiʻi: artists are indigenizing theatre spaces and breaking the idyllic paradise stereotype others hold of the area. Ancient deities are emerging as murals on city walls; kapa (ornate traditional bark cloths) decorate gallery and hotel ceilings; myths and legends are being retold as sci-fi, Disney’s Moana was translated in Hawaiian language, and contemporary Pacific stories of the Samoan diaspora and Micronesian migration, reflecting Hawaiʻi’s social landscape, are finally being made into theatrical dramas. But even with this cultural movement, Hawaiʻi’s theatre landscape continues to be underrepresented and marginalized.
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This is a very informative article. I really like hearing that Hawaiian theatre is making the switch from Broadway classics and purely American works to Stories that relate to them and in this case, their history. Their history is often left out and having theatrical productions of their history is not only a fun way of learning their history but a method in which their history can be made more widespread. Should their productions still not become as popular as other productions and shows, it will likely still make its way to smaller theatre throughout the United States which would effectively act as a history lesson most of us never received and in a detail that relates to them. Theatre has power in that it can make people understand others and hopefully these productions will become popular as to get that history out there. I would love to see these productions and maybe one day I won’t need to go to Hawaii to experience them.
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