The old, the new, the edgy

Innovative staging, newly written plays and reliable old favorites are all on the playbill as Oahu’s vibrant theater community prepares for the 2014-2015 season.

With its original mission of presenting every play in the standard canon fulfilled, the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, which opens Friday, is breaking new ground by presenting a play attributed to Shakespeare and a second writer, an all-female production of three Shakespeare plays performed on alternate nights, and a classic comedy by an 18th-century playwright.

Kumu Kahua’s schedule includes several new plays with Hawaii themes, and Hawaii Theatre is opening with a new play about legendary waterman Eddie Aikau.

Honolulu Theatre for Youth is putting a Bollywood spin on the adventures of Robin Hood, and the productions at the University of Hawaii at Manoa include one performed entirely in Hawaiian.

Want edgy entertainment? Check out what’s coming at All the World’s a Stage, The Actors’ Group and UH’s Earle Ernst Lab Theatre. Prefer classic Broadway musicals and mainstream plays? Diamond Head Theatre and Manoa Valley Theatre are the ticket.

Plan ahead for the theater year with our guide to the new season.