Kumu Kahua Theatre Dark Night Series Presents Psychological Drama PATIENT

As part of their Dark Night series, Kumu Kahua Theatre presents Patient by Tali Ariav. Ms Ariav is a playwriting instructor at Kumu Kahua Theatre and an accomplished playwright whose work has been produced internationally.

Patient was originally presented as a staged reading in the PlayBuilders New PlayFestival, also at Kumu Kahua Theatre. The production has been further developed by director Reiko Ho (Shoyu on Rice and UchinaAloha). The cast includes: Cindy Ramirez, Stu Hirayama, Tyler Tanabe, Malia Lagaso, Marcus Lee and Amrita Malik.

"Patient is a poetic, sometimes painful, exploration of our perception of mental illness" Ms. Ho explains. "It is told from the viewpoint of the patient as she moves through different states of consciousness or escapes into her own realities."

Tali Ariav tells us, "Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian lyricist and novelist, once said, 'We never ask ourselves why we act in one way or another. We do what everybody else is doing... If we try to do something differently, we'll be considered crazy...' This play raises an important question: What does it mean to be crazy? Perhaps less philosophically, what does it mean to be normal?"

The show will be presented on two Sundays & Mondays at 7:30 pm;

September 24 and 25, October 1 and 2, 2017. It lasts one hour and does not have intermission.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased with a credit card by calling 536-4441, or cash by visiting the box office at 46 Merchant Street (corner of Bethel and Merchant Streets, downtown) between 11am and 3pm Monday through Friday. Tickets can also be purchased at the box office one hour prior to the performance.

Kumu Kahua Theatre's Dark Night Series was created to offer other theatre groups, playwrights, and performance artists the opportunity to present their work to the community. This series is presented during dark nights, which are evenings when Kumu Kahua's regular season shows are not being performed. To be part of the Dark Night Series artists must submit a proposal. From these proposals, projects are chosen that Kumu Kahua feels will promote the development of the theatrical arts and benefit local artists in an effort to enhance and enrich the cultural diversity and artistic climate of Honolulu.

Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by The Hawai'i State Foundation on Culture and Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai'i and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Also paid for in part The Hawai'i Tourism Authority, The Hawai'i Community Foundation, McInerny Foundation (Bank of Hawai'i, Trustee); Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) Charitable Foundation, The Atherton Foundation and Hawaiian Electric Company; The Star-Advertiser and other foundations, businesses and patrons.

Photo credit: Sharain Sasheir Photography

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