Ka'iulani, The Island Rose

“There is no slant - it's about the truth and it's a story that is rarely told. Ka'iulani changed forever how the world saw the Hawaiian people. Ka'iulani has been forgotten and it's time she was celebrated - here in Hawai'i most importantly.”

Performance reading of a forgotten story worth remembering. The Maui Academy of Performing Arts' Steppingstone Playhouse at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center in Kahului will present a performance reading of Ka'iulani, ... via The Maui Weekly

[Paul Janes-Brown]

This a a story that needs to be told. It's a little known part of Hawaiian history which the playwright has painstakingly researched and presented in a highly dramatic and emotionally engaging way.

While the play is more cinematic than theatrical, that is not a criticism merely an observation, that does not take away from the overall live audience experience.

The playwright has presented a wide ranging life and a set of historical events and woven them into a epoch narrative. Thus rendering these important events readily understandable to a mass audience.

This play needs to be seen by everyone who lives in or visits Hawaii. It will also be appreciated by those from outside Hawaii as an exotic piece of American history.

[allan forsyth]

I was in Maui for a vacation and saw a great
piece of theatre, very emotional.
Kaiulani, the Island Rose is going to be an
epic piece of theater for Hawaii. How can someone
be part of the production - or maybe part sponsor?
It was just a reading and it got a standing ovation!
The playwrights have made a very complicated
piece of history pretty clear, but also it's
great to learn something about Ka'iulani (who
I had never heard of).

[marc c]

who wrote the play?

[JJ Fahrni]

The play "Ka'iulani- The Island Rose" was written by Jennifer Fahrni (Jennifer Jean Fahrni) and Carol Harvie Yamaguchi. The screenplay was completed over the past five years and the script for the stage is an adaptation of the original film script. The result of the recent play workshop in Maui, which was directed by David Johnston, is a much better version for the stage. The staged reading received a standing ovation. For anyone interested in sponsorship, please contact David Johnston, Executive and Artistic Director of MAPA in Maui.

[Halia]

allan forsyth wrote:

I was in Maui for a vacation and saw a great
piece of theatre, very emotional.
Kaiulani, the Island Rose is going to be an
epic piece of theater for Hawaii. How can someone
be part of the production - or maybe part sponsor?
It was just a reading and it got a standing ovation!
The playwrights have made a very complicated
piece of history pretty clear, but also it's
great to learn something about Ka'iulani (who
I had never heard of).

It should be noted, without any diminution of the importance of a new play about the same subject, that Princess Ka'iulani has already had one ground-breaking (and entirely theatrical, as opposed to "cinematic") play produced about her, by a very important Hawai'i playwright, Victoria Kneubuhl. "Ka'iulani, A Cantata for the Theatre" was even performed in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is due for revival. She has also been the subject of a major high school musical in Indiana, and a variety of other projects outside Hawai’i. It makes use of two actors of differing ethnicity to portray the Princess, and is a complex and challenging work. As for the Princess herself, she has certainly not been forgotten - there are many people around the world who are familiar with her story at least to some degree; she is even mentioned in a museum exhibit in England. There have been a number of "mainland" published children's books about her, even a science fiction novel in which she appears. At present, there is a movie in production about her (although the quality of its script is hotly debated, and the heavy dose of fiction threatens to obscure the realities of Ka'iulani's life). That said, a new artwork honoring Ka'iulani is always welcome - it is simply that what has gone before should be remembered, too. The best is wished for “Island Rose”; it is a part of a greater pattern of interest in Ka’iulani and the Hawaiian Kingdom.

[Hazel McNeill]

Just wanted to say that while on holiday in Maui this spring, I was fortunate to attend a performance of Ka'iulani: the Island Rose. I must say that I was quite moved by the script. I particularily liked the mother and daughter scenes as well as the development of the father and daughter relationship. As I have read quite a bit about the Princess and her achievements, I found the script to be true to life. I applaud the writers for sticking to the truth rather than altering history. I look forward to watching a large scale production of this script with music.

[Simon Stewart]

I saw a presentation on the story in Maui last month and just now went online to find the website. This is a very compelling story and the writer who was leading the evening was completely engaging. I gave her my card to help in any way that I can from California. I have no doubt that this will be a show to see. I intend to plan my vacation around the opening night!

[The Kaiulani Project]

The Ka'iulani Project has a website which states the intentions, press coverage and mandate of the project and the play "Ka'iulani - The Island Rose". Also read Ka Wai Ola article http://www.oha.org/kawaiola/2008/12/story10.p...
The Ka'iulani Project hopes to increase awareness of Princess Ka'iulani's heroism, and as well as producing "Ka'iulani - The Island Rose" by Jennifer Fahrni and Carol Harvie-Yamaguchi, it encourages other works such as Victoria Kneubuhl's. "Ka'iulani, A Cantata for the Theatre" to be remounted.
Project website: www.thekaiulaniproject.com

[Karinas]

I came across the kaiulani project website. What a wonderful tribute to our princess. I hope to meet the producers in Honolulu at a talk they are giving. I congradulate them for a beautiful honor to one of my favorite historical people. I knew of her but not so much about her life. Thank you!

[ThingsThat MakeYouGo-Hmmm]

I am curious...
Am I the only one that believes Ka'iulani was poisoned to death ?
I cannot believe a 23 year old can die from a broken heart...I am sorry, I cannot !
This girl was way too Akamai to go this way !
You'd think she never knew a raw chill up her
backbone in Scotland...horseriding on Big Island...
don't think so.
So...who really were really surrounding her life the last two years? Arsnic & Old Lace friends ?
I believe so!
Anyone else???