Kumu Kahua Theatre

06/20/2026

Mahalo to Hawaii News Now for featuring MEMORY BEADS on a recent episode of their Stories of Hawaiʻi series!

Playwright Diane Aoki and co-director Liza Sanchez spoke with Jonathan Masaki about this new play and Aoki's real-life experiences that inspired the story.

"She has kind of like a mission to preserve the stories from her mother because she sees the memory loss in her mother."

MEMORY BEADS continues this weekend at Kumu Kahua Theatre!

This Sunday's matinee is already SOLD OUT, but there's still time to save your seats for performances tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Get your tickets now at kumukahua.org!

06/19/2026

In MEMORY BEADS, Gabriella Gualano plays Ane (and Ellen)!

Ane is a daughter, the first child of the astoundingly beautiful Celestial Maiden and Okuma, a farmer. As the older sister, she is given responsibility to take care of her brother, Satto.

“Now, can you feel mother’s love? Can you imagine it? Can you feel the warmth? ... As long as you can do that, you will replace the emptiness with this memory. And this memory will be with you to support you all your days.”

MEMORY BEADS resumes this weekend at Kumu Kahua Theatre! Sunday’s matinee is already SOLD OUT, so we only have tickets left for three shows this weekend: Tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday at 7 p.m.

Don’t miss this one—save your seats now at kumukahua.org!

06/18/2026

There are still two weeks left to submit for June’s contest!

This month is a Rip Van Winkle prompt: Write a 10-page maximum scene about a person who wakes up in the future to find that something we know is bad for you at present is found to be good for you in the future. Smoking, hydrogenated fats, microplastics, climate change, whatever is currently detrimental to us.

Kumu Kahua Theatre is proud to present this playwriting contest in partnership with our friends Bamboo Ridge Press. You have until June 30 to submit your scripts. Our favorite receives $100, plus a subscription to Bamboo Ridge!

(Not sure how to format a script? Visit dramatistsguild.com/script-formats to learn how.)

To learn more or submit, visit kumukahua.org/gotryplaywrite. Good luck!

06/17/2026

Why do you do theatre?

We asked MEMORY BEADS actors Kris10 Misaki, Sanae Tokumura, and Camden Colipano (plus enjoy a bonus Gabriella Gualano cameo) about what draws them to the stage. “It lets me have a happy, safe space…”

See Kris10, Sanae, Camden, Gabriella, and the entire cast and crew of MEMORY BEADS work their theatre magic this weekend at Kumu Kahua Theatre!

Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinee is already SOLD OUT. But tickets are still available for this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m.

Save your seats now at kumukahua.org!

06/16/2026

June is Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month and our current play, MEMORY BEADS by Diane Aoki, is about a woman who collects “memory beads” of her family’s history to help counteract her fears that Alzheimer’s will affect herself or her mother.

Next week Tuesday and Wednesday (June 23 & 24), please join us for a special production as part of our Dark Night series: a staged reading of NO ONE IS PREPARED FOR ALZHEIMER’S: ONE FAMILY’S STORY, presented by PlayBuilders of Hawaiʻi Theater Company.

Based on the journal of author and mental health advocate Lindsey Pjerrou Desrochers while caring for her husband George and his journey with Alzheimer’s, this piece explores caregiving, memory, grief, and love through one family’s experience.

Lindsey’s journal has been arranged for performance by Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak, and features PeggyAnne Siegmund as Lindsey and Allan Okubo as George. Next week’s readings will also include a special scene from a 2023 PlayBuilders production developed through story circles with family caregivers on O‘ahu.

Save your seats now by visiting https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-one-is-prepared-tickets-1987668159973!

06/15/2026

Mahalo Hawaii News Now for this feature! Join us for MEMORY BEADS, playing now through June 28.

A moving new play is on stage in downtown Honolulu. “Memory Beads” at Kumu Kahua Theatre follows a woman collecting her family’s stories as Alzheimer’s takes hold of her mother.

06/15/2026

Tomorrow and this Tuesday at 6 p.m., join us at auditions for THE QUEEN’S WILL, written by Sean T.C. O'Malley and directed by Reyn Afaga!

Set in the tumultuous early days of the Territory of Hawai‘i, Princess Theresa Owana Kaʻōhelelani Laʻanui Wilcox Belliveau fights for her freedom and her identity after she is accused of conspiracy to commit forgery of the last will and testament of Queen Liliʻuokalani.

There are only 3 roles in THE QUEEN’S WILL:

The lead role is Princess Theresa, opinionated, stubborn, brave, and striving to be noble in the face of attacks from the new world that has displaced the one she grew up in. Princess Theresa uses everything she has to fight back against the accusations that demean her and diminish the memory of the Hawaiian Monarchy she represents.

Lorrin Andrews—not to be confused with his grandfather Lorrin Andrews the missionary, or his cousin, Lorrin Andrews Thurston (lotta Lorrins!)—is an idealist lawyer who returned from his early life and education in NYC to make the Honolulu of his father’s birth a better place. He is a staunch defender of working class rights; defending Princess Theresa will prove to be more complicated than anyone realizes, the consequences of which will threaten his confidence in the ability of law to provide justice.

Mary K (Mary Kapuaikahikinaheala Jarrett) is a legal assistant with an eye for detail and a tendency to pry into more than she’s asked to. Please note this role will play the parts of ALL witnesses called to testify in the case, including a pompous preacher, naive clerk, crazed triple murderer, spiteful servant, and a self-proclaimed handwriting expert. This is a part for someone who really wants to stretch their abilities on stage.

(Photos are of the historical Princess and her third husband Lewis Belliveau, circa 1915, and the historical Lorrin Andrews and Mary K Jarrett. Mahalo Sean for sharing these photos!)

If you’re interested in auditioning, visit https://www.kumukahua.org/auditions/the-queens-will for more info and to read the script!

Please feel free to call our Kumu Kahua Theatre office at 808-536-4222 or email [email protected] with any questions.

Good luck!

06/14/2026

In MEMORY BEADS, Kris10 Misaki plays the Celestial Maiden!

She is a being of astounding beauty ... “no woman, no object, no waterfall, no rainbow” is as striking. The Celestial Maiden came from another world to what we now call Okinawa and was spotted bathing in a stream by Okuma, a farmer.

“I am thinking about my mother. And how she must have felt to have given birth to me. And how she must feel now, not knowing what happened to me. ... I cannot go home without the hagoromo from my home, but I need my memories.”

Tomorrow’s matinee is SOLD OUT! Tonight at 7 p.m. is your last chance to catch MEMORY BEADS this weekend.

Save your seats now at kumukahua.org!

06/13/2026

If you haven’t seen MEMORY BEADS yet, enjoy buy-one, get-one-free tickets tonight only at Kumu Kahua! Just use code LADIES when purchasing tickets at kumukahua.org.

It’s part of our special Ladies Night evening: Join us for pre-show cocktails at Black Shamrock Tavern at 5:30 p.m. before heading to Kumu Kahua for MEMORY BEADS at 7 p.m.

There’s still time to save your seats at kumukahua.org!

06/12/2026

Meet a few cast members of MEMORY BEADS at Kumu Kahua Theatre! We asked actors Kris10 Misaki, Sanae Tokumura, and Camden Colipano to describe the plot of MEMORY BEADS…badly.

“There’s two kids in there, then there’s like ghosts and stuff,” Colipano says.

“How many of us really get good memory?” wonders Misaki.

“What was the question?” asks Tokumura.

MEMORY BEADS continues tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.! Sunday’s show is already sold out, but there’s still time to save your seats for evening performances.

Visit kumukahua.org!