The Kauai Community Players have long created plays that both educate and entertain. Director David Penhallow Scott is looking to continue that tradition and is asking for people to help him out by auditioning this weekend for his latest play, “Matilda’s Waltz.”
The Kauai Community Players have long created plays that both educate and entertain.
Director David Penhallow Scott is looking to continue that tradition and is asking for people to help him out by auditioning this weekend for his latest play, “Matilda’s Waltz.”
“It’s a play that has meaning. It talks about human nature and what happened in Hawaii in 1944 when we were invaded by servicemen from all over the country,” said Scott. “It’s another open window to the history of Hawaii.”
Scott has been directing plays since he attended Stanford University, where he was a drama major in 1952. He began directing professionally in 1964 and has many plays on his resume, including “The Curious Savage,” “You Can’t Take It With You,” and “Anything Goes.”
“Matilda’s Waltz” is the sequel to Scott’s play, “Emma’s Last Dance,” which premiered in September. It will be brought to life Feb. 20 and will conclude March 8. Each play goes through different decades in Hawaii’s history and “Matilda’s Waltz” will be the third segment in the Eudora Whitney and her family’s saga. It will be followed by “Going Home,” which will be the final play in the quartet.
“It’s about her experience, her husband … all the ethnic groups that lived in Hawaii during 1944 and the experiences of these service men who were off to fight battles in the Pacific,” Scott said. “The second-war times changed Hawaii upside down.”
The story tells of life on a sugar plantation close to Pearl Harbor. The production explores the impacts of World War II on the strict social norms of Hawaii and how the empowered workers change the societal structure as well.
Scott is searching for actors to play the roles of marines, one of which to be African American. He’s also looking for a Caucasian plantation manager and a Japanese labor union officer. The actress roles are the manager’s wife, the union officer’s Japanese wife, and Caucasian girls in their late teens and 20s.
“It gives those who audition an experience what it was like to live in Hawaii during that exciting period of time,” Scott said. “It will be an enrichment for them.”
As well as for the audience.
“I hope they will experience an exciting time in Hawaii’s history,” he said. “I want people to experience what happened to people who lived here in World War II.”
Auditions will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse behind Puhi Park next to Harley Davidson.
Info: 651-4387.
