Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 9, 1 September 2006 — Diary of a royal presener [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diary of a royal presener

/^Jtarting at the end of I September, pa'ahao, v_^ or inmates, from Maui Community Correctional Center will present three performances at 'īao Theater of an original play focusing on the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. The Queen's Story tells Queen Lili'uokalani's personal account of the days leading up to the U.S. military-backed eoup of her monarchy in 1893. Written and directed by well-known playwright Lane Nishikawa, the perfonnance is based on Hawai'i's Story by Hawai'i's Queen, a book Queen Lili'uokalani wrote herself about the overthrow of her kingdom and her subsequent imprisonment in 'Iolani Palaee. In Ianuary, the pa'ahao began reading the queen's

book and learning, some for the first time, about the circumstances that led to the eventual annexation of Hawai'i by the U.S. Maui Eeonomie Opportunity Inc.'s Being Empowered and Safe Together inmate reintegration program is producing the show, whieh will also feature hula and oli by the inmates' own Hālau Nā Kanaka Kūpa'a a Maui, led by Kumu Hula Ualani Smith. Twenty-four pa'ahao, the majority of whom are Native Hawaiian, will play various characters in the story. Hawaiian culture expert Hōkūlani HoltPadilla will play the role of Lili'uokalani, and musical eompositions by the queen will be performed by Kevin Brown and Ola Hou. E3

NĀ HANANA • EVENTS

Pū'ūhoo who ore members of Hōlou Nō Kanaka ū Maui will perform in īhe Oueen's Story. - Photo: Courtesy of B.E.S.Ī