Hana Keaka (Hawaiian- language theater) took a significant step forward last fall when “Puana,” written by University of Hawaii-Manoa professor of theater Haili‘opua Baker and Kaipulaumakaniolono Baker, opened Sept. 27 at Kennedy Theatre.
Kaneikoliaika‘iukapuomua Baker (Nae), Brennan Ikaika Mendez (Hale) and Joshua “Baba” Kamoani‘ala Tavares (Kawohi) star as three young modern-day Native Hawaiians. Their language of choice is Hawaiian, they play Hawaiian-language music for tourists in Waikiki and they are working on an album of Hawaiian music.
Kawohi is the descendant of a Native Hawaiian entertainer who had a successful career playing Hawaiian and hapa-haole music on the mainland, maybe in the 1930s, maybe later. Kawohi has inherited his ancestor’s possessions and spends his free time exploring them.
Almost all the dialogue is in Hawaiian. English subtitles and supertitles are not provided; anyone not fluent in Hawaiian is left to puzzle things out as best they can. That changes for the pivotal scene where Kawohi discovers that his ancestor was concerned that the Hawaiians of his time were losing their knowledge of Hawaiian language and Hawaiian culture — and that he hoped Hawaiians would regain their language and culture some time in the future.
Stories of cultural loss and cultural rediscovery resonate throughout the island nations of the Pacific, and Haili‘opua Baker is looking forward to taking “Puana” to Wellington, New Zealand, where it will be presented in four performances June 11-14 as part of the Kia Mau Festival’s He Ngaru Nui program. He Ngaru Nui honors the storytelling traditions of Maori, Pasifika and other global indigenous cultures by taking stories from those communities and sharing them with the world.
“Being invited to a professional indigenous world global festival — what an honor! I think that really says a lot about the work that we’re producing,” Baker said. Baker is the director of the Hawaiian Theatre and playwriting programs that are revitalizing kanaka maoli mo‘olelo (Native Hawaiian narrative traditions and cultural knowledge) through hana keaka at UH-Manoa. She has been creating and producing hana keaka on the Kennedy Theatre main stage since 2015.
“I will guess that Maori have had the same experiences or something similar (to the characters in “Puana”), and that’s why this particular production, I think, is going to resonate really well with them. Many Maori went into entertainment as well.”
Baker will be taking a group of “about 20” to New Zealand.
“We’re looking at about eight on the production side, plus our musicians plus our cast. Our lighting designer, our scenic props person, our stage manager, and we have someone who is dealing with all of the images and the projections and the short film pieces that are part of the show. All these people are graduate students in the theater program. One of our students is going to be in the band, but he is also going to be our audio engineer.”
One of the cast members also worked with the theater department’s professor of costume design in designing the costumes for the show as part of the requirements for her master of fine arts degree in Hawaiian theater. They’re going to New Zealand too.
Baker said that taking “Puana” to the Kia Mau Festival will cost “a little bit over $100,000.” The biggest expenses are airfare and lodging.
“The state is not funding this,” she said. “We’re doing fundraising through the UH Foundation and another nonprofit, the Halele‘a Arts Foundation, who is open to take donations to support us, as they have in the past. They’ve been our fiscal sponsor for some of our tours, being that sometimes it’s easier to have things paid through a nonprofit. Or people can reach out to my email, tbaker@hawaii.edu (for more information).”
Visit uhfoundation.org/ and nativeland.org/mnf- halelea-arts-foundation.
