OHPN Events

1997

December 1997: Sean and Lurana made an offer on a new condo in Hawai'i Kai, on the island of Oahu. Own a piece of the rock.

September 1997: Sean composed a series of poems for the MFA thesis choreography by Tammy Metz Starr, "Illuminations." Here's one.

The Clay Tale

1.

unknowing

unformed unshapes

uninformed unminds

uniform unhearts

under a thick gray blanket of static

Unmoved.

2.

Ideal, unblemished, blank

awaiting the first scar of uniqueness.

Unoneness.

Longing for the perfect flaw.

Suddenly,

One sees Herself.

One stares at her

Toes.

One says "I . . . wiggle!"

And One finds freedom.

3

Unbound, unblanketed

Out of the inside

Into the outside.

And in the outside it is beautiful.

It is blue. It is yellow and gold

and by the outside light One sees she is beautiful. She's blue.

She's yellow and gold.

She breathes the outside inside herself.

(photo of Tammy Metz Starr by Sean T.C. O'Malley)

July, 1997: Sean and Lurana purchase a work of art to grace their Home: a painting by Hawai'i artist Shirley Shepherd. They call the painting "Malie" and have a snazzy Artsy party to unveil her.

May 20, 1997: Sean's play Island Skin Songs won the 1997 Kumu Kahua Playwriting Award and was given a staged reading directed by D. Scott Woods, featuring David Kleist, Marya Takamori, John Wat, Tammy Baker, and Lurana Donnels O'Malley. The press release reads like this: Island Skin Songs tells the tales and sings the songs of five Hawaiian-European love stories. In 1805, a Russian sailor and a young girl reach out across the language barrier; in 1835, a devout Hawaiian missionary student yearns for his love to be accepted by his teacher's widow; in 1855, an Irish ex-whaler woos a Lahaina prostitute; in 1888, Robert Wilcox's Italian Baroness bride struggles to adjust to life in the Sandwich Isles; and in 1997, a Nanakuli woman faces the breakup of her family. The stories intertwine as five actors portray fifteen roles in this bittersweet look at the cultural politics of romance in post-contact Hawai'i.

March 21, 1997: Loose Screws (Honolulu, Hawai'i) produced Brainstormers!, an improvised one-act play (different every night!), developed over eight weeks of rehearsal with a company of seven players, and directed by Sean. On this particular night, which took place largely in the home of a teenage lass named Cokie (Michelle de la Cruz), Cokie's boyfriend (RKevin Doyle) and she have slept together after denting the family car the night before; the school bully (Tony Pisculli) demands Cokie cheat and take his math test for him; the principal (Sean) is having an affair with Cokie's mom (Julia Gilman) which explodes when he and Cokie have a kiss; Cokie's boyfriend nearly breaks up with her after finding the principal--and the principal's boxers--in Cokie's room (it's not what you think!); and the hallway gossip girls (Shannon Winpenny and Stephanie Sanchez) trade insults and boyfriends from the sidelines. Check out a feature story on the production (and silly photo of the performers)!

February 9, 1997: Lee Chen (Honolulu, Hawai'i) gave us an essay she wrote about her homes in China and Chicago. The piece was later included in a performance piece called "Di Tou Si Gu Xiang --I bow my head and think of home," directed by Joyce Lu and featuring Lee.

February 8, 1997: Sean and Lurana's SIXTH ANNUAL Mardi Gras Party asked the question: "Tell us About Your Ancestors ."

Up late reading the newsletter/surfing the Web and can't get to sleep? Look for this poem by David Jewell (Austin, Texas).

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