Stories from Hawaiʻi’s Okinawan community came to life on stage Sept. 27 during a Community Preview of Our Okinawan ‘Ohana: Stories We Share from Hawai‘i’s Uchinānchu Community at the Hawaii Okinawa Center.
The preview featured selected highlights from the original theatrical production, giving community members a first look at how personal stories, memories and experiences shared during community gatherings are being brought to the stage.
Written by 2026-2029 Hawaiʻi Poet Laureate Lee A. Tonouchi and directed by Harry Wong III and Terri Madden, the production grew out of a multi-year partnership with PlayBuilders of Hawaiʻi Theater Company.
Beginning in late 2024, the project team held story circles and talk-story interviews across the islands. More than 80 Uchinānchu elders, family members and cultural practitioners shared stories about their families, experiences and connections to Okinawan culture.
The stories include memories of parents who left Okinawa for an uncertain future, experiences of plantation life and the challenges of establishing new roots in Hawaiʻi. Others explore the work of preserving Okinawan traditions and passing them on to younger generations.
Tonouchi brings these multigenerational voices together in a theatrical narrative that reflects the experiences and diversity of Hawaiʻi’s Okinawan community.
Cast
- Diane Aoki
- Devon Izumigawa
- Cody Kaneshiro
- Justin Kuwamura
- Miki Nagao
- Sofie Oba
- Allan Okubo
- Keith Ordonez
- Marcus Oshiro
- Kiyomi Sanders
- Carolyn Shimamura
- Sandra Togashi
- Roxanne Yamashiro
- Carrie Zukeran
The production also gave two cast members an opportunity to learn and perform on the sanshin. Keith Ordonez and Devon Izumigawa took up the instrument for the show, guided by Allison Yanagi.
The Community Preview concluded with a singalong of Tinsagu nu Hana, bringing the performers and audience together in a familiar Okinawan song.
The program included a mahalo message to the community:
“To the Okinawan community: Thank you for sharing your stories, memories and experiences with us. It has been an honor to listen and bring these stories to the stage.”
Through the production, stories that were once shared in living rooms, community gatherings and conversations are finding a new home on the stage — continuing the tradition of sharing Uchinānchu experiences from one generation to the next.
To see the full production at the Paliku theatre purchase tickets at playbuilders.org. The play will be held at the Paliku Theatre,Windward Community College on Saturday, Oct. 17 and Sunday Oct. 18.
