Hawai'i Nei brings together three plays by one of Hawai'i's finest playwrights. A compassionate portrait of early nineteenth-century Hawai'i, "The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu" charts the lives of five women during the traumatic, transforming events that followed Western contact. Set in post-World War II Hawai'i, "Emmalehua" tells the story of a young Hawaiian woman struggling to preserve a cherished cultural heritage in a world eager to forget the past and embrace the new American dream. Through history, humor, and a whodunnit plot, the past and present collide in "Ola Na Iwi," which explores the issues surrounding the treatment of indigenous human remains.
"Kneubuhl's work respresents the very best of indigenous theatre. Collectively, these three plays reveal complex and faschinating insights into the author's culture, its history, and its contemporary articulations. Each play is written with verve and wit and has a sure sense of theatricality." --- Helen Gilbert, University of Queensland
