A Paradise Lost - KOPS - Universität Konstanz

adulthood and history. […] In both narratives, the consequence of that resistance is self-
determination. David is emotionally freed to move towards manhood, and Samoa is
politically freed to move towards independence.” 350 In the assessment of Caroline
Sinavaiana,
Kneubuhl’s hybrid voice – native son of Polynesia meets the Eastern seaboard
avant-garde, native sensibilities cross-pollinating with Western aesthetics of
performance – is among the earliest Pacific literary voices in English to articulate
the sheer distance of culture and history being traced in his life path. 351
An important avenue for Local drama – historical, ethnic, Pidgin, or whatever other form
the genre has taken – has been Kumu Kahua, the first “Honolulu theatre group established
solely for the encouragement of Hawaii’s playwrights,” 352 founded in 1971 by University
of Hawai’i drama professor Dennis Carroll and some of his graduate students. Looking
back on the first decade of activity, Carroll asserted: “Preference has been given to plays
that depict the milieu of Hawaii and to those that are unconventional in form or style.”
This still applies to the current practice, but with their own venue, the homey Kumu
Kahua Theatre in downtown Honolulu, the group has expanded its repertoire to
incorporate Hawaiian-language plays, or recitals and readings such as For the Love of
Words and 4 da luv of Pidgin in 2002. An independent community theater since 1981,
Kumu Kahua has produced works by Edward Sakamoto, Darrell Lum, Victoria Nalani
Kneubuhl, John Kneubuhl, Lee Cataluna, and Alani Apio, as well as adaptions of
Yamanaka’s, Keller’s, and Pak’s novels.
350 Sinavaiana-Gabbard 2000: 229.
351 Ibid.: 218.
352 Carroll 1983: ix. Kumu Kahua is Hawaiian for ‘original stage,’ as kumu is the source, the origin, while
kahua means foundation or encampment.
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