The last of the four plays in "He Leo Hou: A New Voice" is a two-for-one deal.
"Kupua," by Tammy Haili'opua Baker, consists of two mo'oleo, stories, and the kupua, shape shifters.
Like Alani Apio's and Lee Cataluna's, Kumu Kahua Theatre has also produced Baker's play.
Baker has written other plays in the Hawaiian language produced by her own theatre company, Ka Halau Hanakeaka, but in "Kupua," Baker incorporates English, Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole English readers are informed), and Hawaiian into both of the shorter plays.
These two short plays are "Ka 'Enuhe," The Caterpillar, and "Ka Puhi a me Ka Loli," The Eel and the Sea Cucumber. They are based on traditional Hawaiian plays passed down orally, and later collected by Mary Kawena Pukui, "Na Ka'ao Kahiko, and other native speakers through the generations," Wat states in Baker's introduction.
Baker explains that her decision to write about traditional material is "because it's a resource that we can learn from and there's so much out there."
However, there is a slightly modern feel to the plays, with the mixture of languages and the description of stylized movements.
Harry Wong III, the director of the premiere of "Kupua in 2001," states, "The art form, the stories, are still living and we use them and we change them." Wat expands on this idea by saying that the contemporary language, settings, and characters, as well as the Western dramatic form "reinvigorates the ancient stories and makes it possible for contemporary audiences... to understand, to appreciate, and to learn from them."
Although writing a script about traditional Hawaiian stories may seem to exclude some from enjoying the play, Wong comments that "(Baker), being a person of the theatre, wants to be as inclusive as possible," and writes her scripts as a playwright, a director, and as an actor.
In both plays, separated by an intermission where the reader can stop awhile and perhaps get a snack if they wish, there is a kupua whom a woman has fallen in love with. In "Ka 'Enuhe," Kumuhea is a kupua, man by day and caterpillar by night. He essentially ignores his wife's needs, sneaks off in the middle of the night and eats all of their sweet potatoes.
He brushes off Waipuna's, his wife, dream that he wasn't there, and she turns to her father, Kawai, for help and a very 'ono (good) meal. Kawai then comes up with a plan to reveal Kumuhea's secret.
Although the reader already knows what Kumuhea is at the very start of the play, which is hard not to when the title gives it away, the reader still gets caught up in the story, going along with Waipuna as she tries to figure out what is going on with her husband.
Once again, this is a play that is enhanced by seeing it performed. In between the dialogue are long sections of descriptions, such as Kumuhea's transformation into a caterpillar.
These aren't like descriptions in novels, and indeed, are mostly stage directions. To tell the passing of time and the movement from one scene to the next, the stage lighting is changed. The reader has these descriptions of the light fading on a sleeping Kumuhea and opening on a distressed Waipuna or a meditating Kawai, but it can take away slightly from the actual action of the play.
The story is a good one, though. The telling is simple, younger children could follow along fairly easily, and the pace is effective. It doesn't drag out. Even without the visual aspect of the play, the humor is evident in the description of Kumuhea's part in the transformation (in the play two other people form the body of the caterpillar), and Waipuna quickly running off about how lazy Kumuhea is.
Likewise, in "Ka Puhi a me Ka Loli," there are long descriptions of the action. In this play, sisters 'Anapau and Kilipue sneak off, under the pretense of night fishing, to see their lovers, Kapuhi, the eel, and Kaloli, the sea cucumber.
They are only men at night, and the sisters are in love with them. As the play progresses their father, Ka'upena, becomes more and more suspicious as they return each night without any fish and quite a bit of talk of the "high tide" making it difficult to catch anything.
After both women sleep the entire day through, Ka'upena decides to follow them and find out what they're up to. He finds them waiting for the kupua, who he sees coming out of the ocean. Ka'upena comes up with a plan himself, like Kawai in the first play, to capture the kupua.
He believes they are stealing 'Anapau's and Kilipue's energy and wants to teach his daughters a lesson about listening to their father and avoiding kupua.
This play starts with a chant in the Hawaiian language, perhaps as a means of setting the mood. This play, even with its stylized descriptions, is probably not suitable for children. There are descriptions of the sisters having stylized sex with the kupua, (it doesn't say anything in detail, but focuses more on the rhythm and silhouettes). Kilipue's is much more tender and "first love"-ish than 'Anapau's. The sexual innuendo doesn't have much subtlety in written form, but adds a little humor to the play overall.
In this second play, there is more Hawaiian spoken, but for those who don't speak it, do not be detracted. Ka'upena's comments in Hawaiian are mostly answered in English, and the reader can make out the meaning without having to translate the phrases word for word.
Both plays give a sense of what storytelling was like in Hawai'i when the stories were first created, at the same time applying a modern and contemporary atmosphere, which aids the reader in feeling more connected to the story, whether or not they are part Hawaiian.
The pace, like the other plays in "He Leo Hou" is just fast enough that the reader won't get bored, but not so fast that they are left wondering, "What happened?"
Anyone with some time to spare should consider this book. The playwrights are part Hawaiian, but the plays are not exclusive to Hawaiian readers. Anybody can enjoy these stories and should.
