RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
John Watson, left, plays Kamapua'a in the Mid-Pacific Institute School of the Arts production of "Pele Ma." James Rudy, center, plays Limaloa and Shawn Booker is Kukona. The play is based on the book "Pele Ma: Legends of Pele from Kauai."
Mid-Pac stages
drama trip fund-raiser
John H.Y. Wat admits he's done something "crazy."
'Pele Ma'
A fund-raiser to send Mid-Pacific Institute drama students to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland:On stage: 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow
Place: Mid-Pacific Institute School of the Arts, 2445 Kaala St.
Tickets: $25
Call: 973-5066
The Mid-Pacific theater arts teacher wanted to ensure that 28 of his students would be able to perform the play "Pele Ma" at this summer's American High School Theatre Festival at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, so "I guaranteed if we didn't raise all the money needed, I would put the rest on my (platinum) credit card."
With about a month remaining before the group -- 19 girls, nine boys and four chaperones -- head east, only about $95,000 of the $135,000 needed for travel, accommodations and production staging has been raised, leaving what Wat calls "a big chunk of change" he may need to pay.
Each student has paid $2,000 for the trip, although the actual expense is $4,200 per person, Wat said.
The group is looking for corporate sponsorships, and tonight and tomorrow will perform the play as a fund-raiser at $25 a ticket. If both shows sell out -- 150 seats for each performance -- an additional $7,000 will be raised.
"My fingers are very, very crossed," Wat said.
"Pele Ma" is a narrative theater adaptation by Wat, Laurel Nakanishi and Kennly Asato based on the book "Pele Ma: Legends of Pele from Kauai," by Frederick Wichman. Wat also is the director.
The first act is a series of stories about Pele and her companions, including several stories about the pig demigod, Kamapua'a. The second act focuses on the famous love triangle among Pele, her sister Hi'iaka and Kauai chief Lohiau.
The American High School Theatre Festival is in its ninth year of sending selected high school productions to perform at the International Fringe theater festival held each summer in Edinburgh. More than 600 schools are nominated annually with as many as 30 schools selected to perform. Mid-Pacific was one of 15 American schools chosen for the honor.
"Fringe" students also are taken on tours of London and Edinburgh and other Scottish locations.
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lea Rausch, as Pele, takes a calabash from Ryan McKinley, playing Kauai's chief, Lohi'au, in rehearsal at Mid-Pac's Kawaiahao Recital Hall.
"The rest of the time the students will attend other performances in more than 225 venues," Wat said.
The Fringe showcases cutting-edge and experimental performances encompassing drama, musical theater, dance and children's theater.
Wat applied for the Mid-Pac group to perform at the festival two years ago and was notified last summer that they had been accepted. Fund-raising efforts didn't begin until April as Mid-Pac administrators debated whether the trip was safe in light of the war with Iraq and other hostility around the world.
"It will be such a great experience for the kids, not only to perform before such diverse audiences in such a culturally rich location, but to see other plays," Wat said.
The students will leave Hawaii July 25 to visit Washington, D.C., before heading off to deliver four performances of "Pele Ma" in Scotland, where they will be staying Aug. 1 through 11.
Fringe 2003 will feature 21,594 performances of 1,541 shows by 668 companies in 207 venues. There will be 12,940 performers on Edinburgh's Fringe stages. Theater is the most popular art form (557 shows, 37 percent), followed by comedy (23 percent), then music (20 percent). Children's shows, dance and physical theater, events, exhibitions and musicals each make up 4 percent of the program.
"I heard it would take more than four years to see every Fringe performance back to back," Wat said, "just about the amount of time it'll take me to pay back $30,000 if we don't find a corporate angel."
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