In Keali‘iwahine Hokoana’s newest play, real life situations take center stage.When you see a play, you usually expect a clear protagonist and antagonist. How else do you know who to be for, and who to be against? However, in local author Keali‘iwahine Hokoana’s newest play, Koi, Like the Fish, the audience is literally yanked in two directions.
Presented by the Maui County Office on Aging, the play tells the story of the old man Koi, played brilliantly by George Kaimiola. His character is deserving of sympathy until his niece, Yo, strikingly portrayed by the talented Venus Rosete-Hill, grabs the audience’s allegiance. So it goes, like an epic tug-of-war. These two characters push and pull against each other until the inevitable conclusion.
Hokoana is a magnificent playwright. Like Eugene O’Neill, she understands how to write truthful dialogue that effortlessly propels a story. Koi, Like the Fish sneaks up on the audience and ambushes their emotions.
In the play, Koi is retired and has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. His selfish son, Guy—nicely portrayed by Dayne Bullock—turns down his father’s offer to take his house in exchange for becoming his caregiver. Guy feels his new wife will not like the house and suggests his cousin, Yo, and her husband, Bryce (played by Derek Nakagawa), would be ideal caregivers for his ailing father
As soon as the relatives arrive, the temperature begins to rise. Bryce and Koi clash over television viewing habits, the size of the koi pond in the backyard and a myriad of other irritations.
Koi’s parsimonious ways, such as limiting the use of hot water and unplugging household appliances, causes Yo to feel less than charitable towards the old man. Yo is also frustrated by the old man’s resistance to his new, “healthy” diet.
When Koi is attacked by Guy’s mother, Sophie, played with spice and flash by Cyndi Mayo Davis, for bouncing a check, he realizes Bryce and Yo have been less than honest with his finances.
The play could have been a shouting match from the outset, but Koi, Like the Fish Director Kim Compoc, like a great chef cooking a soufflé, manages to keep the temperature low—then gradually, carefully and almost imperceptibly, raises the heat until emotions explode. Watching this play is like witnessing two trains head towards each other on the same track. In the end, many will likely feel a profound sympathy for each character, or a deep, abiding hope for anyone in a similar predicament.
On Saturday, Aug. 9, a bedazzled audience watched Koi, Like the Fish at the Keopuolani Waiola Social Hall in Lahaina. At the play’s conclusion, a discussion of the issues was conducted by a panel of community experts and moderated by Rita Barreras. The panel included Ron Tamanaha from the Maui Police Department Domestic Victims Unit; Lena Lorenzo from the County Prosecutor’s Victim Witness Assistance Division; Norma Circle from the Maui County Office on Aging; and Debbie Yap, representing the state Department of Human Services’ Adult Protective Services Program.
The panelists shared information about available community resources and how to respond when family or caregivers need help—before things get out of control. Prevention strategies and services options were also shared. Both the panelists and audience participants said Koi, Like the Fish depicts real life situations that arise when caring for the elderly.
The comments and questions posed by audience members indicated a need for more information regarding services in the community. Residents can contact the Maui County Office on Aging at 270-7755 or visit the Aging with Aloha® Coalition Website at www.agingwithaloha.org to purchase a copy of the Resource Directory for Older Persons, Caregivers, and People with Disabilities. Copies of the directory will also be available at the Maui County Senior Fair on Saturday, Aug. 30, at the War Memorial Gym.
It is estimated by the year 2015, one in four persons in Hawai‘i will be over 60. This “silver tsunami” is unprecedented and will tax our social system, as well as our families. “We’re telling a story that everyone can relate to,” said Compoc. “All of us want to age in place with loving caregivers around us [and] all of us need a break when it’s our turn to be that caregiver. This play is an opportunity to help families get the help they need and deserve.”
Koi, Like the Fish will be presented on Friday, Aug. 22, at 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s McCoy Studio Theater. Admission is free.