Kumu Kahua Theatre Launches 2012 Playwriting Contest

Each year Kumu Kahua Theatre co-sponsors a playwriting contest with the University of Hawai‘i at M?noa Theatre and Dance Department in its effort to bring new and exciting drama to the stage.

Entries must be postmarked no later than Wednesday, January 2, 2013, to qualify.

Prizes are awarded in three separate categories:

The Hawai‘i Prize ($600) is open to residents and non-residents of Hawai‘i; the play must be set in Hawai‘i or deal with some aspect of the Hawai‘i experience.

The Pacific/Rim Prize ($450) is open to residents and non-residents of Hawai‘i; the play must be set in or deal with the Pacific Islands, the Pacific Rim, or the Pacific/Asian American experience.

The Resident Prize ($250) is only open to residents of Hawai‘i at the time of submission; the plays may be on any topic.

Previous award recipient Tony Oliver - under the pen name Antony Michael Oliver - won the Hawai‘i prize twice for his plays Theme Park in 2004 , and The House in 2011. Although these plays have not yet been included in a season at Kumu Kahua Theatre, Oliver’s play Teacher, Teacher was produced in 2007, the Kumu Kahua Theatre 36th season.

Tony Oliver took a writing class at Kumu Kahua Theatre in the early 1990’s and credits that experience with teaching him a great deal about writing for the stage. In that class, taught by Kumu Kahua Founder and current Board Member, Dennis Carroll and Artistic Director, Harry Wong, Oliver says he learned much about what actors can and cannot do; he credits that class with teaching him to write scripts that could feasibly be produced and acted on a stage. He also says the rigor of writing a new scene each week was challenging and helpful and he was impressed by the talent of the other playwrights in the class. Since then, many of his scripts have also been produced at Aloha Performing Arts Company and he won the annual playwright contest at University of Hawaii at Hilo for his play Hotel Street.

One prize will be offered in each category. All plays must be original and must not involve adaptation from any copyrighted source. Also, they should not have received previous production in their current form.

This contest, in concert with playwrighting classes at Kumu Kahua Theatre, are part of an ongoing effort to actively develop Hawai‘i’s art and artists.

For more information, see our website: kumukahua.org/our-events/contests, or call the Kumu Kahua Theatre office at 536-4222 to request a flyer giving full details of the contest rules.

Kumu Kahua productions are made possible with support from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, celebrating more than thirty years of culture and the arts in Hawai‘i (with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts); paid for in part by the taxpayers of the City & County of Honolulu; the Hawai'i State Legislature; the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts; The Annenberg Foundation, McInerny Foundation (Bank of Hawaii, Trustee); and other Foundations, Businesses and Patrons.

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