The Women In Theatre: "Kauai Shorts" 2013

If you’re on Kauai and been living under a rock, or not from around here, you've probably never heard about Hawaii’s very own, Women In Theatre (also known as WIT). And if you haven’t, let me tell you about them and their next amazing project, The “Kauai Shorts” Festival!

First, let me give you a brief history about the Women in Theatre, or WIT, as we like to call them. As stated on their website:

Women in Theatre is dedicated to creating quality theatrical experiences for the Kauai community that provoke, inspire and share the joy of live theatre with audiences and performers alike. Our cornerstone is an open, respectful creative environment that encourages growth for all participants involved while maintaining a high degree of business and artistic integrity.

While our productions invite all community members to participate, WIT places a special emphasis on creating positive role models and artistic opportunities for women – not only as actors, but also as directors, playwrights, designers, and producers.
The Women in Theatre was founded 2000 by two women who shared an interest in creating more opportunities for amateur theatre on Kauai, and more opportunities for powerful role models. After the launch of “Girl Talk” in May 2001, it became clear that there was an audience for what we were doing and a dynamic new group began to take shape. A successful season emerged with such diverse productions as A.R. Gurney’s “Ancestral Voices,” “A Tribute to Cole Porter,” and the first production of the new adaptation of “Diary of Anne Frank” in Hawaii.

Since then, Women in Theatre has presented three to five productions every year – including theatre classics like “A Christmas Carol,” leading Broadway productions such as “Proof,” shows spotlighting women through the generations such as “Eleemosynary” and “Quilters”, innovative comedies, intimate readings, dinner theatre, and the premiere of local playwright Mark Tjarks’ “Ventriloquist”.

With past cast members ranging from 4 to 74 years of age, WIT brings together diverse participants and audiences. WIT productions have been performed in theatres and community venues around the island including KCC Performing Arts Center, Lihue Parish Hall, Kilauea Parish Hall, Princeville’s Church of the Pacific, Kauai Village Theater, Hukilau Lanai Restaurant and Storybook Theatre in Hanapepe.

WIT has a commitment to original work by Kauai community members and has succeeded in producing one show per year that is originally written by a resident of our community.

And one of those shows that WIT performs using original work by Kauai writer is the “Kauai Shorts” Play Festival that they are having this coming summer! Luckily, I’ve had the chance to ask current Women In Theatre President, Roberta Wallace Cable a few questions about the Kauai Shorts Festival.

MO: Hi Roberta! Can you please tell me what the “Kauai Shorts” Play Festival about?

RCW:  Kauai Summer Shorts, our ten minute play festival will be held at KCC, the Performing Arts Center.  This is our 4th Biennial play festival.  It was created at the suggestion of Deborah Rice and since 2007 we have produced more than 65 original plays for audiences on Kauai to enjoy. 

This year we have already received more than 50 scripts and more arrive daily.  This should be an interesting mix of writers both local and from the mainland.  

That is amazing! You’ve already received more than 50 stage plays for this year alone? And now I understand and as you have mentioned, you have writers from out of State who are interested in participating in the Kauai Shorts?

We never imagined that there would be so much interest in our Kauai Festival by mainland writers since we only solicited scripts in Hawaii.

With that many stage plays coming in, how do you manage?

Romey Curt [vice president for WIT] has carried a great deal of responsibility in organizing the writers and directors so that we can actually see the plays performed on the beautiful stage at KCC.  

I can see that Romey will have her hands full this year. So how are you funding the Kauai Shorts? I can imagine that it costs a lot to put on such a big production.

Seed funding came through a grant from Annie Sinclair Knudsen Memorial Fund which is administered through The Hawaii Community Foundation.  The rest comes from community donations and volunteer.

As stated earlier, this year’s Kauai Shorts Festival is the 4th one. And typically the KSF is a 3 day event. I’m sure there must be some memorable experiences from those past events?

Hmmmm...  all our Kauai Shorts performances have been memorable for different reasons.  We have had some stunning plays that convey in 10 minutes a story that takes your breath away...you know, that big pause before the audience catches their breath and starts applauding.  And we have lots of new plays that are just fun.  This is a great opportunity for new actors and directors to try their skills in a more relaxed atmosphere.  We are often surprised at the selections that win.  Both audience and a panel of theatre experts make the choice for several categories of winners.

Now being the Women In Theatre, is there anything that you want the community to know about WIT?

We like men ...   haha!  We don't just cater to women actors, directors, etc.  Men are quite welcome, although we encourage women to take charge, and we select plays that feature strong women's roles.

So men can also participate in your productions as well?

Absolutely!

Thank you so much for the great information about WIT and the Kauai Shorts Festival, Roberta! Before we go, is there any shout outs or anything you want to mention about WIT?

We just finished a superbly successful run of "The Sisters Rosensweig" at our little theatre in The Coconut Marketplace.  WIT's End was turned into a London home thanks to the creative Arnold Meister who directed the wonderful ensemble that performed.  Arnold is not only a talented, but a very hard working director & designer.  We were so fortunate to have him.

 Now we are auditioning for Cass Foster's "Hawaii's UNofficial History" which will take the stage for the month of July.  This is a family oriented show.  

While all this is going on, Romey Curtis, Nellie Foster and the WIT board and volunteers will be reading plays, finding directors, auditioning actors, assisting in all aspects of production for Kauai Summer Shorts!  

We welcome new participants, volunteers, directors, actors, and hope everyone who reads your blog will sign up (www.womenintheatre.org) for our email news so they will know when and where everything WITTY happens.

As you can see, the Women In Theatre has been doing some great work and has been entertaining it’s Kauai community for years on end. They continue to thrive and grow every year. However, they cannot do it without your support.

I highly recommend that you check out WIT’s website,to see their upcoming projects or to see how you can keep community theatre alive! If you love the Theatre, Community Events, The Arts, and support fabulous women like WIT, just doing something simple as watching a show helps out tremendously!

Again, please check out: www.womenintheatre.org for more info and keep an eye out for performance dates announcements for The Kauai Shorts Festival and the upcoming production of Cass Foster’s “Hawaii’s Unofficial History”.


LINKS:

Women In Theatres Official Website
A Teachable Moment: A stageplay from the 2011 Kauai Shorts Festival
Kauai Coconut Market Place
Brown Paper Tickets: Get your Theatre tickets online!