We honor Women’s History Month with a virtual reenactment of beloved play, “Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi – The Queen’s Women” written by Helen Edyth “Didi” Malie Lincoln Lee Kwai. This powerful play has been performed for years by Hui Aloha ʻĀina o Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi in community spaces across the islands as a way to embody and intimately feel our histories and ancestors, and carry kuleana into the future. This thoughtful virtual adaptation of “Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi” was created by director Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker, Kanaka Maoli cast members Leleaʻe Kahalepuna Wong as Emma ‘Aima Nāwahī, Keʻalohi Reppun as Abigail Kuaihelani Campbell (a descendant of Kuaihelani), and students from Hana Keaka: The Hawaiian Theatre Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Opening presentation by author and educator Dr. Noenoe K. Silva, who shares the history and impact of the Kūʻē Petitions and what we have learned since she recovered them over twenty years ago in the National Archives of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The program closes with a live Q&A with Dr. Silva, Kumu Hailiʻōpua, cast members Hiʻilani Kim-Dela Cruz Okimura and Kaipulaumakaniolono, and Emilia Kandagawa of Hui Aloha ʻĀina o Ka Lei Maile Aliʻi.
Performance, Women Leaders, Hawai'i Council for the Humanities
