"Lovely Violent Ghost Haiku" rounds out Late Night Theatre season
University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaDirector of Publicity, Kennedy Theatre
Kennedy Theatre Box Office, (808) 956-7655
"Ghost Haiku" features everyday people in heightened situations, with darkly humorous twists.
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance will conclude its 2012-2013 Late Night Theatre season with “A Lovely Violent Ghost Haiku with Gun (and other plays),” an intertwined collection of pieces helmed by MFA Directing candidate Alex Munro. Performances will take place at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre on April 5, 6, 12, and 13 at 11:00 p.m.
The evening is comprised of three short plays by Steve Yockey, a Los Angeles–based playwright. In “Heavy Cream,” three sales representatives find themselves in a room furnished with a stool, a hammer, and a bottle of heavy cream, and are left to determine which one of them will leave with a promotion. “Foolish Heart” takes place in the front seat of a car, where a husband and wife commit a desperate act in order to restore their family. And in “A Lovely Violent Ghost Haiku with Gun,” a teenager tries to cover his infidelity by telling his haiku-spinning girlfriend that he loves her — but finds that she has already taken matters into her own hands.
Munro selected the pieces with an eye toward the artistic mission of the Late Night series: to present theatre not otherwise available to Honolulu audiences, by producing challenging works from some of today’s most dynamic playwrights. The series is managed by students, and is deliberately kept low-budget and “low-tech” in order to place the emphasis on students’ acting and directing skills.
“I really wanted to embrace that mission,” explained Alex Munro, “by finding plays that rely on the actors and the story to create their magic. I love that the stories are realistic, but have an element of the fantastic or absurd; it allows for a wonderful blend of danger and dark humor.” By casting four actors to play two roles apiece, Munro hopes to challenge his actors to create distinct, multifaceted characters facing incredibly high stakes.
In addition to telling three stories that he finds exhilarating, Munro is hoping to introduce O‘ahu to an emerging playwright and develop an audience for his work here on the island. “Steve Yockey often writes about characters that are pushed beyond their limits,” explained Munro. “And very often they find themselves capable of doing things that are surprising to them and thrilling for the audience.”
Tickets for “A Lovely Violent Ghost Haiku with Gun” will go on sale at the box office one hour before show time each performance night. Prices are $10 for general admission; $8 for UH faculty and staff, seniors, military, and non-UHM students; and $5 for students with a validated Spring 2013 UHM photo ID (subject to availability). All service fees are included in the ticket price. Latecomers will not be admitted once the performance has begun. For more information, please visit hawaii.edu/kennedy or call the theatre at (808) 956-7655. For disability access, please call the theatre.
For more information, visit: http://hawaii.edu/kennedy