KSH students to perform "Hā'upu" on their road to Scotland

May. 27, 2016

Contributed by Shaundor Chillingworth

Students and kumu at Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi campus are continuing to prepare for their performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest performing arts festival.

The school was selected last year by the American High School Theater Festival to be the first Hawaiian language and hula production in the festival's nearly seven decades long history. A group of 20 students were cast to journey to Edinburgh in August.

Since debuting the Hawaiian language opera "Hā‘upu" at the school's annual Hō‘ike in March, the group has been working on condensing the production down to an hour and a half and scaling the show for the much smaller cast.

Hā‘upu tells the legend of Kana and Hina. It is a story of the Wā Kāhiko, the ancient times when gods would walk among men. It is a tale of mythological proportions shrouded in folklore and presented through and opera exclusively in the Hawaiian language. Hā‘upu is a story of love and hate; of wrong and revenge; of custom and courage; of passion and superstition.

Hina, an ali‘i from Hilo, is captured by Kapepe‘ekauila, a rogue ali‘i from Moloka‘i, and brought to the cliffs of Hā‘upu. Her sons Kana and Nīheu set out to rescue her. But she's fallen out of love with her husband Hakalanileo and starts to develop feelings for Kapepe‘ekauila and her new surroundings.

The Hōʻike performances helped to raise funds for the trip. There have also been several individuals who have made contributions as well as donations from sponsors Hawaiian Electric Light Company, Matson Foundation, Hilo Products, Iwamoto Electric and the Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i PTO.

To prepare for the Fringe, students have been performing shorter versions of the show at a number of different venues over the past few months. Students traveled to Keauhou over their Spring Break to take part in the annual Kau‘ikeaouli tribute concert. They performed at the campus’ annual Hawaiʻi Island TechEd Collaboration conference and held a workshop performance in May to really refine their performance.

Next up, students will showcase the version of the show that they will ultimately take to Scotland at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s first-ever Hawaiian language theater festival, Keaka, on June 4 and 5. KS Hawaiʻi will perform at 7:30 p.m. on June 4 at the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center. See more information about the festival at: http://artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu/.

The group will also perform at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on June 7th at 7 p.m. as part of the park’s After Dark in the Park series. Performance will take place in the Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and seating is limited. More information at: https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/events_adip.htm

As for the Fringe, KS Hawaiʻi received their performance dates:

August 5 at 3:15 p.m.
August 8 at 1:15 p.m.
August 9 at 9:15 a.m.
August 10 at 11:15 a.m.

All performances will take place at the Space Triplex. The official program will be release on June 8 at www.edfringe.com, which is when tickets to the show can be purchased.

Read "The mana of this high school's Hawaiian-language opera" from Hawaiʻi Magazine.

For more information on the production, trip to Scotland or performing arts group, visit http://blogs.ksbe.edu/hah/ahstfscotland/.

Upcoming performances

UH Hilo Keaka - Hawaiian language theater festival June 4, 7:30 p.m. UH Hilo Performing Arts Center Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park After Dark in the Park series June 7, 7:00 p.m. Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium

Students from the cast heading to Scotland celebrate a successful completion of their second Hōʻike performance.

A workshop rehearsal was held on May 3 for students to get used to the shortened length and smaller space required for the new production.

Hoʻike A Haʻi (performing arts) students from the KS Hawaiʻi campus performed selections from the original Hawaiian language opera "Haʻūpu" at the ʻaha mele (concert) on March 19.