This Saturday at 7 p.m., Kahilu Theatre opens the doors to its newly revamped “Green Room” to host a sneak peek, staged reading of the original stage production “SHE’ISLAND.” The brainchild of actress, producer, and director, Jane Sibbett, best known for her role as Ross Geller’s ex-wife, Carol Willick on the NBC sitcom Friends, “SHE’ISLAND” was inspired by Sibbett’s wildly successful production of “The Vagina Monologues,” which sold out three shows at Kahilu Theatre last year.
“With the success of Vagina Monologues last year, and selling out our shows, we were able to raise a lot of money that stayed here on the island to help women in need,” said Sibbett. “I wanted to do it again, but the board (of Kahilu) really wanted me to try something different. We still wanted to do something that would be about women, but women on the island in particular.”
For those unfamiliar with “The Vagina Monologues,” it is a series of soliloquies from different women on their struggles and life experiences with their sexuality. The play raises awareness of the serious and often fatal struggles that women and girls face. It’s a confirmation of how complicated, and often devalued, women’s experiences are within society.
“I wanted this show to cover stories about women on this island, but they didn’t have to be exclusive to survivors of intimate violence. I wanted it to tell the stories of how we got here and what we’re made of,” said Sibbett. “The survival of just being on an island is enough, but there are so many great stories here. It just got me thinking of this worldwide dilemma of women hiding their stories. I know in my family, I could tell some stories, but not all of them. I’d be able to talk about this issue, but not that issue. When we hide those stories, I really think it does us a disservice. These stories really do shape us.”
The full production of “SHE’ISLAND” will run April 23 and 24, 2016, but this weekend’s staged reading is an opportunity for the community to witness part of the creative process of its production.
“The audience will see and hear the beginnings of this new community co-creation, a gathering of stories from wahine of Hawaii Island, as inspired by the elemental energies of our spectacular home,” said Sibbett. “More than just stories of survival, these are tales of love, passion, loss, and rebirth, too.”
Sibbett feels strongly that many of the challenges and adversities women are facing in the world today stem from our disconnection with the elemental forces of nature, and feels that through stories, women can reconnect with those forces, both internally and externally.
“I feel that so many of us, not just the disenfranchised, and not just the indigenous, but all of us, are having challenges because we’ve forgotten our original mother, the Mother Earth,” said Sibbett. “Our stories about why we’re here or why we’ve chosen to be here, these are all deeply connected to our elemental selves and the elements of this planet. That’s why I wanted to try to glean the stories out of the wahine on the island through the elements. If we can tap into the elements that run though us, then we might be able to make those connections again. Each one of us are connected to each other by these amazing stories.”
Sibbett called out to women on the Big Island to co-create this production, by sending out writing prompts along with a big dose of encouragement. Auditions were recently held, and women and girls of all ages showed up to read some of the work that was presented.
“Wahine from across the community have participated in the creation of “SHE’ISLAND,” and this is definitely a work in progress. We invite people to come and support the stories of women on this island. I’m really excited to bring this together. I want to sit down at the fire together with women and hear their stories. This reading is the first layer of us sharing our stories and knowing that this will incite even more stories to share.”
“It’s all coming together,” said Sibbett. “The writing is amazing. There are topics on everything from passion to self-loathing to body image, to fear, to the sacredness of living here. There’s a little bit of violence, but it’s not as intense as it was in ‘The Vagina Monologues.’ It will be interesting to see how this evolves.”
The staged reading of the work-in-progress of “SHE’ISLAND” is in Kahilu Theatre’s Green Room which has a limited seating capacity. Tickets are free, but must be reserved by calling 885-6868.