Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-09-17
esprit Of Hawali' Picturesque Sketch
Local Talent Has First-Mght Success

Hawairs intangible atmosphere"
and something of spectacular effect are
turned to good account in the 30-min-
ute fantasy written by E. A. Douthitt
and produced "for the first time on
any stage" at the Opera House last
night. .-.':. ~ "
Trimmed with music by Prof. Carl
Miltner and with scenery by Harry
Marcelle and staged by William Dou-
| thitt, the spirit Of Hawaii presents
] itself more as q picturesque tableau
or series of tableats than as a play.
The story of the fantasy is SUMMARY
ed in the program as follows:
Leslie Alden, an English play
wright, is working on a new play He
falls asleep in his study, and in a
dream sees the perfection of his plot.
This dream reveals Lehua, an immor-
tai woman of Hawaii's volcanic region,
where Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess Of
Fire, is ruling spirit.
! "Lehua loves a man in the upper
world, who was one time an immortal,
was driven out by the goddess, turned
to stone, but eventually restored to
human form. She dreams constantly
OF her lover, and believes he will some
time come to take her with him to the
world of daylight.
Alden, in the dream, is this lover.
with the magic power of the Kahuna,
he passes safely through the fires
meeting Lehua. The Kahuna leaves
Alden to his fate. Lehua, however, be.
seeches Pele for permission to depart
with her lover. The goddess consents.
The Kahuna Is thwarted."
The plot is quite simple, runs with
no counter-plots, sub-piots or cross
currents, and is told in simple dia-
Iogue with comparatively little "busi-
ness" As produced last night, the
first scene-"in one" as the process
SIGNALS say-show Alden in his study
in England, and as he falls into slum-
Der the curtain rises and discloses the
interior of cave or deep grotto. Be-
iyond this, through a jagged hole in
the rocks, may be seen the boiling fires
lof Kilauea in their nightly brilliance.
After the plot has been unfolded the
courtain goes down and Alden wakes,
again in his study. still seeing in his
fancy Lehua, visible through an aper,
ture high In the curtain, stretching out
her arms to him and singing aloha
Oe.r
This arrangement lends itself to
Spectacular effect in the grotto scene,
with the murky glow of volcanic fires
lighting up the rocks and cave interior
/ and the faces of the actors. The ap.
pearance of Pele, Goddess Of Fire, ris.
ing luminous from the flames height
ems the spectacular quality of the
scene. =
| The sketch has some structural de-
fects which need remedy. A time-hon.
/ ored and threadbare device is used
to bring the story before the audience
that OF the venerable and portly fam
| lily butler who comes on the stage with
/ glasses, sets them down ard solilo-
i Quizes all about his master, what hap
] pened in the past and what is going
! to happen in the future. This sort of
Introduction is on par with the APP
pearance of the French maid in q
i black, short dress, white apron and
4 high slippers, who Frances about with
/ q 6uster meanwhile revealing the be-
/ ginning of the plot.
1t does not help the spirit of Ha
waii" and may very well be dispensed
with. It slows up the action and to
i q sophisticated audience on the main
Hand would inevitably be ill-received
II