“Stories of Home” is this year’s theme, and new adventures are on the schedule as Honolulu Theatre for Youth opens another year of family-oriented entertainment this weekend. Some shows are about “home” as a place of physical shelter. Others are about the sense of a place where you’re from.
HTY Artistic Director Eric Johnson says it’s about “thinking about all the ways you can think about home — everything from the (ethnic) cultures that live here, to the deaf culture, which is also a different type of home, but rarely do we get invited into it.”
HTY’s new season opens this weekend with an improved and expanded production of its 2011 hit “Anime Momotaro” with changes made in response to audience comments. HTY’s original take on the popular Japanese folk tale debuted in a year when “dealing with bullies” was the season theme, and several significant changes were made in the traditional story:
Instead of beating the marauding ogres/bullies into submission and then taking their treasure back to his village, Momotaro refused to fight them at all and gave them half of his village’s crops. Is buying bullies off a recommended strategy for children these days?
“We heard about that from several people,” Johnson said. The new version is tighter and “more powerful,” he explained, and a fifth actor has been added. The new version of the play also weighs the concept of sharing versus hoarding and is much less “about buying off the bullies.”
“We’ve actually added two scenes that specifically deal with that very thing — why it is important to treat each other with kindness, and what kind of things really contributed to the behavior. Not just from the ogres’ point of view, but from the people who are calling the ogres names and making fun of them, and how they too are responsible (for the ogres’ behavior).”
Also notable, the final performance will be performed entirely in Japanese.
HTY is exploring new frontiers of entertainment with its second show of the season, “Can You Hear My Hands?” which will be performed by a cast that includes deaf actors. Johnson promises a vibrant world of gestured communication.
“It’s the kind of thing that may be intimidating if you don’t hang out with deaf people all the time, but this is a one-hour introduction to not just to deaf people but deaf culture,” he said. “It’s designed for hearing people to talk about deafness from a very positive standpoint and provide a window in the vibrant creativity of our deaf community.”
Johnson is putting the time-honored concept of “something old, something new” in play by bringing back Mark Lutwak, his predecessor as artistic director, as the director of “A Plantation Celebration,” a new anthology production that replaces HTY’s problematic “Christmas Talk Story” series. The “Christmas Talk Story” series rigorously avoided any suggestion of religion in association with Christmas. The new series isn’t tied to a specific holiday.
“This is ‘stories from home’ about the plantation time period,” Johnson said. “With the closing of the last plantation on Maui, that culture now exists as stories. There’ll be a holiday theme, but mainly it’s going to be about plantation times and kids from that time and what they took away from it.”
HONOLULU THEATRE FOR YOUTH
Tenney Theatre, 229 Queen Emma Square, 839-9885; htyweb.org
>> “Anime Momotaro: The Adventures of Peach Boy” — A traditional Japanese folk tale retold in modern “anime” style to explore ways of dealing with bullies. Recommended for ages 5+. Friday-Sept. 24 (Sept. 24 performance will be in Japanese)
>> “Can You Hear My Hands?” — A company of deaf and hearing actors brings a dynamic world of gesture, expression, humor and language to the stage. Recommended for ages 8+. Oct. 14-Nov. 12
>> “blue” — Inky Blue and Pale Blue are happy in their blue world — then color comes into their lives. An introduction to the idea of tolerance and understanding in an age-appropriate theatrical experience. Recommended for ages 3+. Nov. 5-19
>> “A Plantation Celebration” — A nostalgic look back at the plantation era when members of different ethnic groups lived in separate camps but still managed to share one another’s culture. Recommended for ages 5+. Nov. 25-Dec. 17
>> “You and Me and the Space Between” — What happens when an island springs a leak and can no longer float on the open sea? A girl embarks on a heroic journey to save her people’s lives and spirits. Recommended for ages 7+. Jan. 13-Feb. 4
>> “Home — the Play” — Two charming characters wrestle to create their own homes until they come to realize that one of the great joys of having a home is sharing it. Recommended for ages 3+. Feb. 11-25
>> “Thumbelina” — In a world where the small becomes larger than life, the value of friendship, family and the impact of a good story are the most powerful magic. Based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Recommended for ages 5+. April 7-May 13
