Kumu Kahua Theatre is about to expand its entertainment offerings to include its first book club. The group will hold its first meeting on Monday, Nov. 24, to talk about the biography “A Curious Life for a Lady: The Story of Isabella Bird,” by Pat Barr. The first book club meeting starts at 6 p.m. and will take place at the theatre.
The book club was inspired by the theatre’s current production of “Outlandish,” a story about Bird, a Victorian travel writer who met King Lunalilo during a visit to Hilo. The production stars Julia Avilla LoPresti as Bird and Kaipo Dudoit, who played David Kawena in Disney’s live action movie “Lilo & Stitch,” as King Lunalilo. “Outlandish” opened Nov. 6 and runs through Dec. 7.
“The book club was inspired by the play,” Sara Ward, a playwright and the office manager for Kumu Kahua Theatre, told Aloha State Daily. “Once we decided to do the play, I started reading a couple of Isabella Bird's books, themselves. She's fascinating because she's a woman who started traveling back in the 1800s, when she was 40. … And here she goes on these world trips at the age of 40, in the 1800s when you didn't even have modern cars and stuff, so she's going on horseback and donkeyback and by these boat trips that take a really long time to get somewhere.”
The style of those books is very much like a travelogue “describing every blade of grass and what the sky looked like that night,” Ward said.
Shortly after that, Ward stumbled upon the biography “A Curious Life for a Lady: The Story of Isabella Bird,” which sums up Bird’s adventures with more narrative. Copies of the book are available for free through the Hawai’i State Public Library System. The book can also be found on Amazon and in book stores. One copy is available to borrow from Kumu Kahua Theatre.
The book club is one of several new programs the theatre is rolling out, including an event called Ladies Night, where attendees can buy one ticket and get a second one free and enjoy special promotions at the nearby Black Shamrock Tavern. The first Ladies Night was held during the production of the play “Smother," which Ward wrote.
“I feel like even a little bit before the pandemic — people, they have so many choices now, right?” she said. “You can stay home and watch Netflix. You can do a fun bar night where they're showing a movie in the background. You can go to a movie theater. You can go to a play. You can go to a concert. Back in the day, there was one thing, so everybody came to the theater because that was the one thing that was happening.”
Events like a book club can help provide a sense of community, she explained.
“We want to do some activities that kind of enhance the theater experience, so it's not just come in, sit down, watch a play, go home,” she said. “But you get to know people because you're going to go meet for a drink first, and you get to talk to the playwright if they're there.”
Ward participated in Kumu Kahua Theatre’s inaugural Ladies Night for “Smother,” where she spoke with attendees about what it was like to be the playwright. For “Outlandish,” there will be a buy one ticket, receive another free offer for audiences seeing the show on Friday, Nov. 21. The director of the play will be present, she said.
“Everyone will get to talk to the director, meet some of their fellow theater goers, maybe make a new friend,” Ward said. “When we did this last show during ‘Smother,’ I saw people who I know did not know each other until that night — they sat down at the table together to have a drink and split a pizza and chat about ‘Smother’ and about other things too — travel and stuff like that — before they walked over to the theater together to watch the play. It's enhancing your theater experience.”
Refreshments will be served at the book club meeting on Monday, Nov. 24. Sign up.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
