By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Norbert Larsen holds Summer Partlon as they rehearse.
The Iona Pear Dancers appear in "Susanna."
It's a story of violence but,
By Deborah Ensor
'It's not a play about getting
smashed in the face'
Special to the Star-BulletinAlthough "The Story of Susanna" is about domestic violence, it is not so much about violence as it is about vulnerability.
"The blows, the bruises, the broken bones are not what this play is about," says Juli Burk, director and producer of "The Story of Susanna," a new play by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl, opening tomorrow at the University of Hawaii's Kennedy Theatre.
"What this play is about is the way in which society teaches us to be vulnerable. It's about exposing that vulnerability, about how we can unlearn these patterns."
"The Story of Susanna" is Kneubuhl's latest work. It is her 10th play, a project which has been an odyssey for the writer, one that has taken her a great distance in the seven years that she has been working on it.
"Do you ever notice that women are afraid just because they are women? That the fear of sexual violence, and the fear of that fear, makes us all live a certain way?" she asks. "If you're alone and you're a woman, you're afraid. That really bothers me."
Unlike most of her other works, "The Story of Susanna" was not commissioned, and Kneubuhl wasn't sure she ever wanted to share it, never mind see it staged. But then she got to a space where she wanted to show it. And then came the really hard question. Does she show everything?
The answer is yes. Yes, Kneu-buhl has been there. Yes, she knows this story well. She was in a very abusive relationship in her first marriage, at age 17. "At first I thought I was a really isolated incident. But look at history; it's really frightening how women are treated."
More frightening than that, she said, is the way society shapes us to accept it and be a part of it.
"It seems to me that our culture is getting more violent," Kneubuhl said. "I think of all the things I thought the world would be when I was growing up, and I never thought there would be this much violence. It's quite disturbing to me."
"The Story of Susanna" is her way of talking about that. Based loosely around the biblical Susanna from the Apocrypha, a book of stories that never made it into the modern Bible, the play is a series of "snapshots" that go back and forth between the biblical Susanna and the contemporary Susanna.
The story of Susanna is one of a young wife who visits her garden every day. Two elders come to her house often, to confer with her husband. They both glimpse Susanna in the garden and fall in love with her. The burst in one day, confessing their lust, and tell her she must "Lie with us."
Susanna says no, so for revenge, the elders make up a story that they saw her committing adultery with another man. The town believes the elders, and Susanna is condemned to die, until she is rescued by Daniel, who proves the elders were lying.
"It's an awful story," Kneubuhl says. "I started to wonder what her life would have been like afterward, and I made up a scenario."
That scenario is the thread of this story. The first act is a series of snapshots of young women growing up, "indoctrinated into a culture that defines roles. It's full of these little pictures of things young women do that leave them vulnerable to violence." The rights of passage are acted here -- dances, make-up, dressing up, learning about sex.
The second act is about five women in a half-way house who are there because they are trying to recover from violent, life-threatening episodes.
Although there are scenes of violence, "It's not a play about getting smashed in the face," Kneubuhl says. It's much more subtle than that, and hence, much more powerful.
The play, directed by Burk, a professor in the UH theater department for 13 years, is also not a play that you'll easily forget.
"I remember so clearly the day three years ago that I read the completed play. I read it and I was actually shaking at the end," Burk said.
It's a special production for the two women, who have been close friends for many years. Kneubuhl said she had to write it, and Burk said she had to produce it. "I knew if I didn't produce it, my life wouldn't be complete."
This is the world premiere for the piece, which has had a few readings in the past two years, but has never been fully staged. It features seven actors and seven dancers from the Iona Pear Dance Theatre, led by choreographer Cheryl Flaharty.
The Story
of SusannaOn stage: Tomorrow, Saturday and Nov. 5-7 at 8 p.m.; matinee Nov. 8 at 2 p.m.
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Victoria Kneubuhl, right, and director Juli Burk
review the script.
Playwright is
By Deborah Ensor
grateful for the
creative opportunities
Special to the Star-BulletinIt isn't often that Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl sits outside on her lanai, soaking up the Honolulu skyline and the brilliant blues of the ocean behind it. When she does, she often ends up daydreaming, passing away the hours in thought. It's hard not to -- the view is so captivating, the surroundings so serene, and there are so many characters swimming around in her head to think about. But after writing 10 plays in as many years, it seems fitting to sit back and take stock of the years that have gone by.
It wasn't but 10 years ago that Kneubuhl was sitting in another place, passing away the hours in thought. There behind a desk as a student at the University of Hawaii, she discovered herself, found her voice.
She was already in her 30s, the mother of two, planning to work on her master's in psychology. She wanted to try something different, so she signed up for a playwriting class -- and the rest, well, anyone who is familiar with Hawaiian theater knows how the rest goes.
"I was really scared," Kneubuhl remembers. "It was really hard."
Scared? A prolific playwright who has written about strength, courage, strong women and questing souls. Scared?
"After my first class in playwriting, I almost dropped out. But I saw such an improvement in my work from the start of the class to the end, that I took another class, then another."
One of those classes was taught by Dennis Carroll, the artistic director of Kumu Kahua Theater.
"That was a turning point for me," Kneubuhl says. "He really encouraged me to write and I am very grateful to him for that. If I hadn't had that kind of nurturing, I might not have kept writing."
That nurturing has born fruit in some of Hawaii's most beloved plays, including "Emmalehua," the story of a young woman in the 1950s, torn between her heritage and the Americanization of her island home. Then there was "Ka'iulani," about the overthrow of the monarchy; "Conversion of Ka'ahumanu," about the cultural classes between missionary and Hawaiian women; and "Ola Na Iwi," about the repatriation of human remains.
Most of her works are about the land. They explore issues surrounding those who live here, and the sacredness of life in the isles.
They are also about women. "When I look back at the body of my work, a see that a lot of it is about women. There are good roles for women -- and I am proud of that."
Kneubuhl is also a "book jun-kie." She has a novel going all the time, and finds great company in the works of her favorite authors, among them Margaret Atwood and playwright Carol Churchill.
She often thinks about her own characters, dreams about them, even. "There are certain characters that I am really attached to. They are like my imaginary friends."
Kneubuhl also does a lot of historical scriptwriting, teaches playwriting and serves on several boards of directors. Busy, yes. Tired, a little. Bored, never. She simply loves writing and is thankful for the creativity.
"So many parts of the creative process of playwriting are still a mystery to me," she confides. "I am just grateful, very grateful."
Grateful, too, for being fortunate enough -- and talented enough -- to see her very first full-length play produced right away. That was "Emmalehua."
"A lot of people write and never get a reading. Having a play produced -- it's the best teacher."
Many of her plays were commissioned by Kumu Kahua Theatre and Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Her work has also been widely published and read. She has won the 1994 Hawaii Award for Liter-ature and received a 1996 Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Individual Fellowship Award. "The Story of Susanna" has just been published in "The Seventh Generation: An Anthology of Native American Plays."
Promoters hope "The Story of Susanna" will raise awareness of the life-shattering nature of domestic violence. Building awareness
Attorney General Margery Bronster will kick off opening night, with the Junior League of Honolulu serving as ushers and helping to begin a production-long canned food drive.
Domestic violence service providers and legal experts will host discussions after the Friday and Saturday shows. The play will also be videotaped for use in domestic violence prevention training.
