By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– Honolulu Theatre for Youth begins the new year with SUZETTE WHO SET TO SEA, a poetic seafaring adventure of a play by renowned Irish-Australian playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer.
SUZETTE WHO SET TO SEA opens Friday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Tenney Theatre on the grounds of The Cathedral of St. Andrew, and continues on Saturdays January 17, 24, 31, and February 7 at 4:30 p.m.; and on Saturday January 31 at 1:30 p.m. (ASL/sensory-friendly performance). Single tickets are $20 for adults (age 18-59), $15 for seniors (age 60+) and $10 for youth (age 2-17). The show is best enjoyed by audiences five years old and above. Tickets at www.htyweb.org or 839-9885.
SYNOPSIS: In a small seaside village “where men build boats and women do not,” young Suzette knows she is different—she longs for the sea and believes she is meant for more than a life on land. When one morning the men of the village are missing, presumed lost at sea, Suzette is faced with the opportunity to break with tradition. Loading her loved ones onto a boat she has secretly built, she leads them on a journey to find the lost men. What follows is an adventurous, imaginative tale exploring courage, community and the possibility that sometimes it only takes the actions of a single person to change everything.
Director Eric Johnson said, “It is our pleasure to introduce Honolulu audiences to one of the great playwrights writing for young audiences today.” Kruckemeyer lives on the Australian island of Tasmania and often writes of ocean adventures. Johnson worked with Kruckemeyer and the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego to develop the play.
SUZETTE WHO SET TO SEA is performed by Alvin Chan, Maile Holck and Junior Tesoro. Director is Eric Johnson; set and props designer is Joe Dodd; costume designer is Erick Sundquist; lighting designer is David Gerke; sound designer and composer is Nicholas Drashner.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Finegan Kruckemeyer was born in Ireland and emigrated to Adelaide, Australia at age eight. In 2004, he moved with his wife Essie to Hobart, Tasmania, from which he now writes for national and international companies.
Kruckemeyer’s plays have had seasons in over 50 Australian and international festivals; five IPAY North American invited showcases; all Australian states/territories; five UK national tours; five US national tours; and at the Sydney Opera House, Ireland’s Dublin Theatre Festival, Scotland’s Imaginate Festival, Shanghai’s Malan Flower Theatre, New York’s New Victory Theater and New York University, and DC’s Kennedy Center for the Arts at the prestigious New Visions New Voices.
Kruckemeyer and his work recently received the inaugural $160,000 Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, as well as many other awards and accolades. He was Keynote Speaker at the 2013 One Theatre World North American TYA conference (USA), and has spoken at conferences/festivals in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Denmark, England, Scotland, Sweden and the US, with papers published.
He was one of 21 selected worldwide for the ASSITEJ Next Generation (young leaders in children’s theatre); he sits on the Australian Script Centre board, and on panels for Arts Tasmania’s Assistance to Individuals, Tasmanian Literary Awards, and Artsbridge.
Honolulu Theatre for Youth is Hawaii’s non-profit professional theatre company providing theatre and drama education programs that make a difference in the lives of Hawaii’s young people and families. Founded in 1955, HTY is recognized the world over as one of America’s most honored theatres.