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FRIDAY—MAY 29
2 by playwright Albee being produced here
Two Edward Albee plays take the stage this week at TAG. Though written a half-century ago, they seem particularly pertinent in these turbulent times.
“The Zoo Story,” written in 1958, begins with a midlevel executive, Peter, reading on a Central Park bench. Vagrant Jerry, seeking a connection, begins talking to Peter, telling him about his visit to the zoo — but eventually the conversation turns confrontational and violent. Though initially rejected by New York playhouses (it premiered in Germany), the play eventually reached New York and became Albee’s first success, launching a series of plays that took a critical view of American society on the cusp of change. Stu Hirayama and Alex Monti Fox star.
Two years later Albee’s “The American Dream” debuted. The play deals with a domineering wife, referred to as Mommy; her submissive husband, Daddy; Grandma, who delights in pushing their buttons; and two visitors, including a young man who disrupts the equilibrium even further — he is called the American Dream. The dark themes explored in the play sparked an uproar at the time, but Albee defended it “as a stand against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is peachy-keen.”
Where: TAG, Dole Cannery, Suite 101
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through May 29
Cost: $15-$25
Info: taghawaii.net or 722-6941
WEDNESDAY
Koyczan’s stand against bullies pleases crowds
Spoken-word artist Shane Koyczan is bringing his message of hope to the Hawaii Theatre.
The native of Canada has been praised for his stands against bullying, with a 2013 video of his poem “To This Day,” created with 86 animators, getting 18 million hits on Youtube. “It’s a beautiful, powerful film,” said Slate magazine.
Koyczan, 39, said people assume his anti-bullying stance stems from comments about his weight, but it really comes from childhood, when he was asked why he was being raised by his grandmother. Koyczan is of mixed ancestry. His parents had felt ostracized in their hometown of Yellowknife, in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories, and left, while he remained.
“It was purely an innocent question of why are you living with your grandmother? Didn’t your parents want you?” he said. “That was enough to make me cry. And then it became this game, like ‘What can we do to make Shane cry today?’”
His facile way with words stems from his habit of “scribbling.” “Not anything like ‘Here’s my daily journal entry’; it was just random thoughts. It wasn’t until the end of high school, the beginning of university, that I thought, ‘Maybe I should start putting these in structures.’”
Koyczan said he’s now trying to rekindle his relationship with his father, and his work is taking a more positive spin.
His latest album, “Debris,” featuring feminist songwriter Ani DiFranco, expresses the idea that “I’m broken in all these places, but I’m still here, I’m still standing,” he said. “It’s definitely more of a celebration.”
Where: Hawaii Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Cost: $7-$27
Info: hawaiitheatre.com or 528-0506
SATURDAY
Kawehi takes looping to new heights in her 1-woman show
Kawehi, the multitalented musician, songwriter and all-around creative force, makes a return visit this week.
The Native Hawaiian musician, who describes herself as “Songwriter, Singer, Sh—t Talker, Lover, Musician-who-walks-like-a-trucker” on her website, has turned the technique known as looping into an art form. Her cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-shaped Box” went viral two years ago after her video showed her building the piece, layer by layer, on a MIDI keyboard and a sound-effects console, finishing with her own soaring vocals. The video, a spontaneous recording prompted by her husband Paul’s purchase of a new camera, was cited by the online editions of Esquire and Spin magazines, while the Huffington Post called it “unbelievable.”
Born in the islands, Kawehi lives in Lawrence, Kan., in a home she and her husband purchased because the property included two music studios. Despite all the attention her work has received, she’s remained true to her vision as an artist, turning down invitations to do pop reality TV singing shows and using Kickstarter to raise funds, so that she can pursue her music her own way. On previous visits, she’s attracted an avid set of Oahu fans.
Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $25-$30
Info: flavorus.com or 855-235-2867
SUNDAY
Award-winning pianist to debut with symphony
Award-winning pianist Soyeon Lee returns to Honolulu for her debut with the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra.
A lot has changed since her last performance here in 2012 – she’s now a music professor in Cincinnati, tours and is married with a family. And if that sounds like a busy life, it can’t be more hectic than her wedding in 2013. She gave a performance with her fiance just three days earlier.
“It was a crazy time,” she said. “Our real wedding was on the smaller side, but since so much of our life is musically connected, the concert was in some ways a bigger part of the wedding ceremony.”
She’ll perform Mozart’s delightful Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, a colorful work that features lovely clarinet passages. Lee performed the work for many seasons, but hasn’t played it since 2012, and with the changes in her life, “It seems like a new piece,” she said. “I’m practicing it and finding all these wonderful things I missed before. This piece is so difficult because of its simplicity, in a way.
This particular concerto, the second movement is especially expressive. It’s in F-sharp minor, and it’s the only work that Mozart wrote in F-sharp minor, so already it has an almost Romantic feeling. It’s already foreshadowing what’s happening. It’s really satisfying and deep.”
Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor — the composer’s last and considered his best — is also on the program. Stuart Chafetz guest-conducts.
Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $34-$92
Info: ticketmaster.com or 866-448-7849
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TICKER: Talented youngsters compete in the Brown Bags to Stardom state finals, starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. Treetops Restaurant at Paradise Park. $10-$20. brownbagstostardom.com.
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