Aloha Performing Arts Company’s 19th annual Original Play Festival, consisting this year of six plays, has been cast and is in rehearsal, gearing up for the August 22 through 25 performance week at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu.
“OPF XIX” opens on Wednesday, August 22, with “The Death of Roland Baker,” a locally set comedy by Peter Van Dyke of Honaunau, directed by Robin O’Hara. The cast includes Scott Pierce, Lani Opunui, DK Place, Priscilla Basque, Jason Heady, Tiffany Kutsunai, Brett Espiritu, Robert Block, Orind Adams, Jason Scott, Jeannie Kutsunai, Ruby Jordan, Chantelle Espiritu, and Bert, Sharyn, and Justyn Toyama. This play features profanity, adult situations, and sexual innuendo, so parental discretion is advised.
Thursday features a triple bill of one acts, beginning with “I Can Hear You,” by Captain Cook playwright John Holliday. Karen Barry directs this poignant drama, which is enacted by Kerry Matsumoto, Barbara Masters, Emily Burt, and Jeannie Kutsunai. Second on the bill is “The Line-Up,” a baseball themed comic drama by Jerry-Mac Johnston of Springfield, Missouri, and directed by Miguel Montez. Cast members are Ernie Gianotti, Scott Pierce, and Sam Valenti. Last on Thursday’s bill is the domestic comedy “Rest in Peace, Woody Block,” by Dick Hershberger of Ocean View, directed by Sue Boyum. The cast includes Bill Cruise, Kerry Matsumoto, Deborah Klein, Holly Baker, Janemarie Singer, Tiffany Kutsunai, Robert Block, Bert Toyama, DK Place, Jason Takaki, Stacey Canedy, and Karun Thanjavur.
“Fat Man,” a tragicomedy with adult language and themes by Suzanne Bailie of Seattle, is Friday’s presentation, directed by Sara Hagen, and featuring Jason Heady, Stacey Canedy, Loren Lindborgh, Cathy Riehle, and Betty Clark.
The festival will close on Saturday, August 25, with “Dream Date,” a metaphysical comedy by Dan Borengasser of Springdale, Arkansas. Felicity Johnson is the director, and the cast includes Liz Sharma, Jennifer McCord, Joel Gimpel, and Sam Valenti.
The plays of “OPF XIX” are all new, unpublished, and previously unproduced works, and are presented in staged reading format, with actors holding scripts. Each night’s performance begins at 7:30, and tickets are $5.00 for each night, or $15 for a festival pass. A ticket stub from any night is good for a dollar off the ticket price on a subsequent night. Each play’s reading will be followed by a brief discussion, during which the audience is invited to offer feedback and give comments or ask questions of the actors, the director, and in some cases, the playwright. The festival wraps up on Sunday August 26 on stage at the Aloha Theatre with a 2:30 p.m. free public potluck celebration honoring all the participants. Those attending who have witnessed all the readings will be invited to vote for the “Opie,” a people’s choice award for best script of the festival. The winning script will be passed on to APAC’s Kokua Committee, which plans the mainstage season each year. For more information, call 322-9924.
