Aloha Performing Arts Company

Aloha Performing Arts Company begins its 22nd production season with the 15th annual Original Play Festival, which will feature four new, unproduced plays in four days, August 13 through 16, at APAC's home, the historic Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu. All plays are offered as staged readings, with actors holding scripts, and with minimal technical presentation. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. All plays contain adult subject matter and mild profanity, so parental guidance is suggested.

On Wednesday, August 13, local playwright Dick Hershberger's play "Tear, Kiss, Cake" will be presented, directed by Arlene Araki. This romanatic comedy involves a wedding photographer, his overprotective daughter, and a series of classic misunderstandings endured by charmingly wacky characters. The cast includes Bob Haber, Becca Beaver, Madeline Heeley, Lee Vinson, Atlee Riddle, Rexanne Ring, Sue Boyum, Jaquelynn Collier, and Shawn Nakoa.

"Other Tangible Things," by J. Jackson of Denver, Colorado, will be presented Thursday August 14. This complex dramatic mystery involves the legal and medical professions, alternative lifestyles, and some dark secrets. Sam Valenti directs a cast which includes Jerry Tracy, Riddle, Kristy Krauss, Christy Aragon, JaneMarie Singer, Chirstopher Hill, Noelle Roy, and Tiffany Kutsunai.

Friday, August 15, "Game Face," by Hilo author Zena Zeller, takes the stage. Robin O'Hara directs this British comedy involving a pregnant au pair with a Borat-like accent, a flower peddling waif, and a wildly dysfunctional family. Performers include Karen Barry, Heeley, Sandra Burck, Hill, Riddle, Hershberger, and Jaylynn Fowler.

The final reading of the festival will be "The Picture Project," by Anthony Michael Oliver, of Kailua, Oahu, presented on Saturday, August 16. This dramatic comedy with a twist, directed by Ann Thompson Kern, features a widowed lawyer nearing retirement, who is suddenly courted by her late husband's best friend. The cast includes Araki, Hershberger, Kutsunai, Joshua Tavares, and Christine Giblin.

Each night's reading will be followed by a brief discussion, with audience feedback welcomed. Tickets are $5.00 and are available at the box office beginning at 6:30 p.m. each peformance evening. A ticket stub from a previous night's reading is worth a dollar discount for a subsequent night. APAC will offer wine, beer, and other refreshments before each show and at intermission. A free potluck wrap party will be held on Sunday, August 17, at 2:30 p.m. on the stage, with the public invited. This event will celebrate the festival and honor all its participants, and will feature the presentation of the "Opie," a people's choice award for best play of the festival. For more information, call the APAC office at 322-9924.

7/25/08