Moses Goods’ adaptation of Hawaiian legend adds contemporary issues

A shapeshifting Hawaiian demigod based on Hawaiian legend, love between two outsiders, a touch of comedy and contemporary concerns all come into play in Moses Goods’s latest play, “Nanaue the Teenage Sharkman,” which is being presented Saturday at Windward Community College’s Paliku Theatre, as part of the Seventh Annual Paliku Arts Festival.

Goods had a teen audience in mind in creating this colorful drama — suitable for all ages, he said.

In the play, a lonely girl named Jocelyn goes to the beach at her mother’s insistence; there she meets a socially inept but friendly boy named Nanaue.

Nanaue has a secret: He’s a demigod with the ability to become a large shark.

The two teens become friends, and before long Nanaue is taking Jocelyn with him for long swims beneath the surface of the ocean.

The story is based on the Hawaiian legend of Nanaue, the half-shark, half-human son of Kamohoali‘i, the king of sharks, and a beautiful Hawaiian woman from Waipi‘o Valley. According to legend, Nanaue was able to live on land with his mother until he accidentally tasted meat and began viewing humans as another type of food.

“It’s a story that I’ve known, that I’ve actually told in different ways, for many years,” Goods said.

GOODS WAS fascinated, he said, by the idea that not only does Nanaue turn into a shark, but when Nanaue is in human form, he has a shark’s mouth — both functional and effective — in the middle of his back.

“For a person like me to who likes to delve into that world of imagination, it sounds very intriguing,” Goods said.

“Delving a little deeper into what’s happening with the characters, Nanaue has this weird affliction, and he lives a very secluded life, but you don’t think about the lack of his father. It was a good opportunity for me to bridge the gap between these traditional stories and connect them to a modern audience.”

Goods works contemporary themes into the story: The shark king is an absentee father; Jocelyn’s father is out of her life as well. Domestic violence — shown as a confrontation between two silhouettes — is suggested as the reason that Jocelyn’s grandfather has become her surrogate father. And, since this is 2018, both teens have cell phones.

Micah Souza (Nanaue) and Cassidy Patmont (Jocelyn) are nicely matched as the socially inept teenage sharkman and his human love interest. Kalena Antone is Jocelyn’s mother – she comes to regret forcing her daughter to go to the beach. Kipp Luuloa earns well-deserved laughter as Jocelyn’s loving and protective grandfather.

Several stagehands maneuver colorful fish puppets; a much larger puppet represents Nanaue in his shark form. Animated projections and imaginative lighting effects effectively create the feeling of being beneath the waves when the story goes into the ocean.

AT A GLANCE

>> Parental advisory: Nothing to worry about. Nothing scary, no insult jokes.

>> Kid-pleaser aspects: Colorful fish puppets, realistic one-liner comedy, a scene where Grandpa is swimming and meets Nanaue in shark form. Also amusing: Nanaue eats a fish using the (unseen) shark mouth in his back while he’s talking to Jocelyn on his cell phone.

>> Age recommendation: OK for all ages.

>> Run time: 45 minutes.