While theaters remain closed in compliance with COVID-19 protocols, theater groups are moving to alternative platforms. Several island theater groups are now virtual — presenting live real-time performances entirely online.
Kevin Keaveney and Kailua Onstage Arts (KOA) are introducing another alternative to traditional productions this weekend with their drive-in theater production of Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s contemporary horror/thriller, “The Birds.”
“We’re doing drive-in theater, everyone will remain in their cars, the actors will be miked, and those mics will be broadcast through FM radios. It could be on the car radio or on a portable radio, or on your phone through an app that gets you FM,” Keaveney said Tuesday.
Amy Sullivan, Stu Hirayama, Michaela Miller and Walter Gaines star in the story best known to Americans as seen in the classic 1963 Hitchcock film; Alan Shepard directs.
Hitchcock’s movie about huge flocks of birds attacking humans for no apparent reason was a loose adaptation of the horror story of the same name written by British author Daphne de Maurier in 1952. Hitchcock’s adaptation included new characters, and moved the story from rural Britain to a small town on the California coast. Playwright McPherson went back to the original text when he wrote for the stage in 2009.
Drive-in performances have worked well in Europe, and in the series of musical revues that Diamond Head Theatre presented in its parking lot during the summer. The KOA drive-in is in the parking lot next to Assaggio Italian Restaurant in Kailua.
KOA proved the basic viability of the venue with its staging of “Flywheel, Shyster, & Flywheel,” a “lost” Marx Brothers radio show presented with audience groups bringing their own chairs and sitting in socially distanced units, in July. Keaveney sees full-scale drive-in theater as a logical next step.
“It’s probably fair to say that we’re the first in the state, as far as I know, to do scripted theater (this way),” he said.
And unlike the famed drive-in movie theaters of legend, the lot is completely covered so inclement weather isn’t a problem.
KOA continues “Kailua Onstage Arts al Fresco!” Nov. 7 with Keaveney and Alison Maldonado opening a two-weekend, Saturday and Sunday production of “An Iliad,” the Lisa Peterson/Denis O’Hare reworking of the ancient Greek classic. Twilight comes earlier in November so showtime for “An Iliad” will be 6 p.m., with the lot opening at 5. Keaveney hopes to accommodate “between 25 and 30 cars.”
“The Birds”
Presented by Kailua Onstage Arts
>> Where: Kailua Onstage Arts al Fresco!, 340 Uluniu St.
>> When: 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, through Nov. 1; parking opens at 6 p.m.
>> Cost: $20 per person
>> Info: kailuaonstagearts.com
>> Note: Running time is approximately 70 minutes. Language and adult subject matter make this show appropriate for ages 14 and older.
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“An Iliad” will be at 6 p.m. on Nov. 7-8 and Nov. 14-15.
