‘All’s Well’ production thrives at Hawaiian Mission Houses

It’s easy to think of museums as stagnant places focused on ancient artifacts. But Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives turns that view on its head. This repository of Hawaiian history has been bubbling over with a surfeit of liveliness, including highly praised theatrical productions.

Coming up this weekend, thanks to a new partnership with Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, is a two-night production of “All’s Well That Ends Well.” The romantic comedy will be performed on the property’s outdoor mound, framed by breezy palms and a halo of stars.

The show is the climactic hurrah of Mission Houses’ summer stage programming, which began in June with its annual living history presentation, Cemetery Pupu Theatre. The innovative presentation featured professional actors who brought historical Hawaii figures to life while standing beside the Oahu Cemetery graves where they are buried.

This year’s production, themed “At Your Service,” took home some choice awards at the recent Po‘okela Awards gala celebrating theater excellence. In the nontraditional category, “At Your Service” racked up recognition for the ensemble cast, for direction by William Ha‘o, original script by Zachary Woods, and for overall production.

Last year’s rip-roaring take on Shakespeare, “Twelf Nite O Wateva!” also brought in ensemble honors for the cast.

Mission Houses’ Shakespeare slot this year, “All’s Well That Ends Well,” marks the first time an outside troupe is being invited onto the outdoor stage.

For those who attended the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival over the last couple months, this is a restaging of “All’s Well.” The same cast that performed at ARTS at Marks Garage in July under Tony Pisculli’s direction will reclaim their roles, but with staging to suit the lawn’s proscenium stage.

“One of the things we’ve been focusing on is community partnerships, to expand not only our program, but other groups’ programs as well,” notes Michael Smola, curator of public programs for Mission Houses.

Ha‘o, self-proclaimed cheerleader for the show and the museum’s theater director, points out an evolution on both sides of the equation. The show marks the first time Mission Houses will feature an all-female cast, and the first time many cast members will perform outdoors.

THE COLLABORATION marks the start of some new theatrical possibilities for Mission Houses.

“We will continue exploring community partnerships,” said Smola.

Mission Houses may bring the cemetery characters into traditional theater spaces and to neighbor islands as well, if adequate grant funding is secured.

Just last month, several of the cemetery characters performed at historic sites on Maui for the first time, to overwhelming success. More Maui excursions are on the table, as are plans for Kauai and Big Island, as well as potentially introducing the characters beyond Hawaii.

“Our theater company has direct access to one of the best archives of early 19th-century journals and letters. The result is carefully researched and artfully scripted 20-minute monologues” — often in the characters’ own words, said executive director Neal Hitch.

Hitch took over as Mission Houses’ executive director this year from Tom Woods, who developed the history theater program, and notes that he was attracted by this innovative approach to making history accessible.

“(These plays) are Hawaii’s history,” said Ha‘o, who spent 30 years as an actor in New York, returned 10 years ago and has been directing and acting at Hawaiian Mission Houses for 7 years. “Coming back after being gone, I learn more with each story.

“So many people contributed to our history, not just Hawaiian people. And we don’t do a one-sided take; we don’t sugarcoat the stories. This allows discussion to happen. People are awed by this sense of history they never knew anything about.”

Shakespeare and history theater are part of the foundational fabric of Mission Houses. Smola notes that The Bard was commonly discussed among missionaries. One, Rev. Luther Halsey Gulick, was said to never leave the house without a Bible in one hand and Shakespeare in the other.

Meanwhile, says Hitch, “The Hawaii Shakespeare Festival is also an innovative institution, and our partnership should provide a fun evening of entertainment in a delightful setting.”

Smola also points out that Mission Houses is drawn to theater because its very first public program in 1908 was in fact a play called “The Missionary Sewing Circle.”

Together, Shakespeare and Cemetery Theatre give palpable life to this recent period of history in a program bursting at the seams with possibility – new places to perform, novel staging ideas and the adaptation of new and intriguing characters from every chapter of post-contact life in Hawaii.