What would you tell time-travellers from the future if they asked you how Hawaii can achieve the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045?
Honolulu Theatre for Youth is giving island keiki the opportunity to answer that question with its 2017-2018 season finale “Shocka: The Story of Energy and Hawaii.”
“The ‘energy future’ is really about the future of our young people,” HTY Artistic Director Eric Johnson said.
“We’ve made this huge commitment to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Someone who is 10 now will be 37 in 2045, and so it’s a commitment that they will be involved in executing.”
“Shocka” is the creation of the eight HTY actors who appear in it. Their story of time-travellers from the 2040s is intended to get the pre-teens of 2018 thinking about what the world will be like when they are adults in their 30s, and what they can start doing now to make Hawaii a good place to live.
“SHOCKA: THE STORY OF ENERGY AND HAWAII”
Presented by Honolulu Theatre for Youth
>> Where: Tenney Theatre, Cathedral of St. Andrew
>> When: 7 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Saturdays through May 12
>> Cost: $10 to $20
>> Info: 839-9885, htyweb.org
>> Note: 11 a.m. May 5 performance presented with ASL Interpretation
“It’s not like a ‘doom and gloom, we’re all going to be flooded under water’ story,” Johnson added. “Its more, ‘If we become interested and engaged as a community with these very real problems, how can we make better choices?’”
He describes it as “a fun way to get into a complicated topic.
“I hope that people will also enjoy the opportunity to imagine themselves in the future. If we can get young people thinking long-term about solutions then we get a more holistic community-wide engagement in the problems of energy and the opportunities of energy.”
AT A GLANCE
>> What it’s about: People from the future return to the present seeking ways to reduce energy use and develop new, renewable technologies needed to meet Hawaii’s energy needs.
>> Morals and messages: It is important to learn about Hawaii’s energy future and what each of us can do today to use energy wisely.
>> Parental advisory: Nothing to worry about. There’s some science here but everything is written so young audiences can understand it.
>> Kid-pleaser aspects: Songs and dancing, flashy lighting effects, sci-fi projections in keeping with the time-travel theme — and a robot.
>> Age recommendation: 5+
>> Run time: 50 minutes
