Fall 2013 !
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SIGHTLINES N
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PlayBuilders on Board
Upcoming Events
How YOU Can Help
BUY TICKETS!
Introducing the Company in
Don’t miss one minute of
We’re always looking for willing
Residence at The Leeward
our quality entertainment
volunteers and generous donors.
Theatre for the next year.
or our dynamic workshops!
Can we count on you?
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Our Fall season promises to be one of the most exciting yet! Find out how you can reserve your tickets now and beat the crowds. Page 13
A NEW MANAGER & A NEW VISION FOR THE LEEWARD THEATRE After a long and exhausting search that lasted most of the spring, The Leeward Theatre hired Kemuel DeMoville as their new Theatre Manager. Before being hired as Theatre Manager, DeMoville worked as an instructor at Leeward where he taught courses in Theatre. Prior to that he lived with his wife and two young sons in New Zealand, where he was working on his PhD in the syncretic theatre of Oceania. Hawaii audiences may be more familiar with DeMoville for his work as a playwright. Plays he has written have been produced by Kumu Kahua Theatre and UH Manoa. His most recent production was in the Ramona Bowl amphitheater in Southern California. “One of the things that impressed the screening committee the most was that Kemuel had a very strong vision for where he wanted the theatre to go” says Lehua Simon, Leeward’s Assistant Theatre Manager. “Kemuel’s ideas about a theatre that is responsive and connected to its community showed us that he would be the right person for the job.” “What is special about community building theatre is that it is immediately reflective of time and place. It addresses the needs of the community; the fears, the traditions, and the joy” says DeMoville. “Now, this does not mean that you sacrifice production quality, or abandon opportunities for touring productions – it is an awareness of how the community is reflected in the productions that go up onstage. As arts presenters we shouldn’t try to tell an audience what culture is, but we do need to provide a space where culture can be created and explored - engaged with and empowered. I firmly believe that the performing arts have a duty to provide a voice and a shape to the communities they represent. We want to build community through performance.” Currently DeMoville is busy trying to finalize Leewards 2013-2014 season. “We’ve got some really great stuff coming down the pipe, so keep your eyes peeled for it!” says DeMoville.
“I first came to Hawaii as an MFA candidate in Playwriting at UH Manoa. It was here that I met and married my wife. We were performing in a Jing ju (Beijing Opera) together; she was a laodan, I was a chou… it was meant to be. After the birth of our first son, Tenny, we moved to New Zealand for three years (much to the anger of his grandparents). My wife was studying directing at the National Drama School there while I was teaching and working on my PhD. Then our second son, Barrett, was born and we decided to move back to Oahu. That’s when I started teaching at Leeward, and being involved with the theatre here.”
The Leeward Theatre • 96-045 Ala ‘Ike • Pearl City, HI • 96782 • http://LCCTheatre.hawaii.edu