Aloha Performing Arts Company

Five directors have selected casts for five brand new plays in Aloha Performing Arts Company's 14th annual Original Play Festival, which will be performed August 15 through 18 at the community center at Christ Church Episcopal on Konawaena School Road in Kealakekua. This will be the first time these plays have been presented in public.

Kaz Hollinger is directing Wednesday's offering, "Assault," a drama dealing with crime and friendship, by Oahu playwright Anthony Michael Oliver. Her cast includes Delaney Ross, Chuck Makanui, Lee Vinson, Arlene Araki, John Powell, Dick Hershberger, and Jing Jing Tsong.

Thursday will feature a double bill, with both plays directed by the team of Kestrel Bishop and David A. Payne. Opening the evening will be "Cowboy," a mystery by Kona playwright Suzanne Bailie, in which Death appears in the form of a cowboy. The cast members are Vinson, Hershberger, Janemarie Singer, Christine Giblin, Sandra Burck, Jonathan Kutsunai, Sage Piersel, and Crystal Leishman. After an intermission, Hershberger's comedy "South Point Bar and Grail," about a church that doubles as a bar, will take the stage. This play features Powell, Rexanne Ring, Cathy Riehle, Vinson, Hershberger, Theresa Marotta, Jeannie Kutsunai, Tiffany Kutsunai, and Gayle Keller.

Hilo author Zena Zeller's mystery "Blind Faith" takes the Friday slot, directed by Ken Ross. This script is set in a rural English chapel on New Year's Eve, 1949. The cast consists of Payne, Ring, Bishop, and Powell.

Closing the festival will be the local drama "Ka 'Ikena" by Kona's Diane Aoki, directed by Jerry Tracy. It details the controversy surrounding the advent of a luxury subdivision and golf course in Kealakekua. The cast includes Makanui, Tsong, Guy Nagata, Shawn Nakoa, and Keola Siu, with music provided by Kehaunani Kaaihue.

All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5.00 at the door. Ticket stubs are worth $1.00 off any subsequent night's admission. These are staged readings, with actors holding scripts, and simple technical presentation. Each evening will finish off with a brief discussion involving the actors, playwrights, directors, and the audience. On Sunday, August 19 at 2:30 p.m., also at the Christ Church Episcopal community center, there will be a free public potluck wrapup celebration of the entire festival, honoring all the participants. For more information, call APAC at 322-9924.