 Hi, welcome to Think Tech. We are raising public awareness about technology, energy, diversity, and globalism. This show is Center Stage. I am your host, Donna Blanchard, proud managing director of Kumu Kuhua Theater. And we are coming to you live from Pioneer Plaza in the heart of downtown Honolulu, very near Kumu Kuhua Theater. I am very pleased to introduce my guest to you today. You know, here on Center Stage, we talk about the process of theater. And this guy has some very interesting processes. We're going to talk about very unique. His name is Kevin C.K. Berg. And you are a student director at University of Hawaii at Manoa with a show coming up. That's true, that's true. I am a third year MFA candidate, so almost done. Almost, yeah. Is this your final project then? Yes, this is. This will be my thesis production, and afterwards I will write a paper, but this is the final actual production that I'll probably do. Awesome. You have a good theater voice. Thank you, thank you very much. Did you start as an actor? I actually started as a singer. Oh, there you go. I started as a singer and then transitioned to actor and then transitioned to director. So it was a long process, but I'm here now. Okay, I'm laughing because I did the same. Yeah. And I started off singing in the church choir and with my sisters and then found my way into musicals and musical comedy. Yes. Yes, okay. And so you're still with me. Musical comedy and then, ooh, there's comedy, and then all of a sudden one day it was like drama. What is this? It can be a whole new person and I don't have to sing and dance. This is amazing. And you mean my life won't progress through song? Exactly. So we have similar arcs, I guess. Okay, okay. So I totally understand that, but you have, I've gotten into directing myself, but even though I still love that directing and teaching, but now I'm in administration and you are going full throttle directing. Yes. And devising? Yeah, directing, devising, improv. My passion is education. So as long as I can steer whatever I'm doing towards that, that's kind of, that makes me happy. Oh, so it's theater with a goal other than entertainment, happy, happy or detachment or whatever. Yeah, I think theater has its place as kind of an opiate of it. Theater has its place to relieve us of our daily lives, but it also has a place to educate. And me myself, you know, my goal is eventually to work at the college level. I want to be a professor. So everything right now is kind of trying to steer towards that. How can I use these new and innovative ways, forms of theater to still focus on education? Awesome. I agree with you that it has its place as an opiate. Picasso said something like art exists to help you shake the dust of reality. I'm misquoting him, but that's what he meant. I got you. And I agree with that, but I also felt like even in my early years in college, I felt like there's something more. There's something more. I enjoy what I'm doing. This is cool, but there's something more. And I love going to, you know, they do marvelous work here at the Shakespeare Festival is an example of it just erases reality for you for a good hour and a half or two hours, and then, you know, you get to land softly in real life. But there's something different when you actually learn something or become something more as a result of the theater. So the piece that you are working on now, let's hear about that. So the piece is called A House Divided. It's an immersive piece, which means that there is no fourth wall. It's non-traditional, I guess, in the sense of what people think of theater now. So the action is not being watched by the audience and the audience is in the dark. The audience is actually going to be surrounded by the action. They actually become a part of it to a certain extent. The premise for A House Divided is that we are ten years in the future and there is a major divide in the native Hawaiian community. There are essentially two factions. One is the provisional Hawaiian government and they have grown out of Na'i'opuni and the AHA that happened earlier this year, this kind of federally backed path towards self-determination and sovereignty. And then there is the united and sovereign nation of Hawaii which has formed in opposition to that. So it's important to know that those two factions are the big players ten years from now in this fictional world that we created. The actual production takes place at a gala hosted by the Ph.G. that gets crashed by the U.S.N.H. And we are guests at the gala? And you are guests at the gala. And so things get heated, people start arguing and eventually one young Kanaka Maui, one young native Hawaiian having enough of it actually draws a gun from the security guard and holds everyone at the gala hostage. Okay, and that's just the beginning. Yeah, that's really the starting point for the action. So the audience is participating in that, are they making decisions? The audience will not be making decisions. Okay. What will happen is when the audience comes in, we make it very clear, first of all, that this is going to be a simulated hostage situation. We're not going to trick anyone, we're not going to be like, hey, come see this show, bam, there's a gun. That's not what we're trying to do. Everything is going to be very clear, very laid out, and they're going to get a type of role when they come in. So you could be Donna Blanchard, vice president of marketing for some technological firm. Okay, could be. And so what happens with that is you, as an audience member, would come into the gala, so the gala space is there, the actors are kind of roaming around it in their characters, and they will interact with you as your character to various extents before the actual gala begins. So that's really the immersive aspect, that helps draw the audience into the world, and then everyone takes their seats when the gala begins proper, and from there on, they are... it's more of a traditional kind of play from then on out. Oh, okay. Do the actors have a way of knowing what characters the audience members are playing, or is it up to the audience member to... It'll actually be on your name tag. Oh, okay. You'll be given a name tag with your title. Good. And good, I've done interactive pieces before. I used to do murder mysteries. Oh, I love those. In Chicago. And sometimes audience members will really go for it and have a good time playing along. Yes. Other times they're, you know, enjoying the attention they're getting for whatever reason. And I always felt like if it is... if the event is set up well, you lessen the possibility of that happening, but it always still exists. It always still exists. The big framework that we're taking this piece from and basing it on is there was a late-night theater piece at UH, I think it was two years ago now, called One Night Stand. And it was kind of... it was in an art gallery. So it wasn't a gala, but we set up this art gallery with installations and audience members were given celebrity names. And so that's kind of where the name tag idea came from. But some of those audience members did take it. They really took those characters and ran with it. So that's why we were having a mix this time. So it's enough of a buffer by giving the title that the audience is comfortable, but it's also they're anchored by having their real name. Okay. That's cool. And your actors get to be nimble and what an amazing exercise for them. It's really great. It's fun to watch them just as we rehearse. We have guests come in every night who watch either students or people who have heard about it and they're like, I don't know about it. It's like, no, come and watch. It's not as scary as you think. And we kind of give them either ambassador kind of positions or we just tell them that they represent some company. And it's really, really fun watching the actors see what the actors come up with and the choices that they make. How do I feel about this audience member? Like, are they allied to the country that I represent? Or have I bought stuff from the people that they work for? So it's really interesting watching all that. Oh, yeah. So what is the goal of the piece? So the goal of the piece, while we use a simulated hostage situation as a frame, it really touches on the topics of Hawaiian sovereignty, self-determination, which is so prevalent and poignant. Not just with the native Hawaiian community, like with the Department of Interior's recent announcement that they were going to, that they have finalized a pathway towards Hawaiian self-determination, but also just with indigenous cultures. You know, it's what we are dealing with as a whole. The Standing Rock protests for the Dakota Pipeline, it's so prevalent now. And so you have that layer to it that the issues that we're talking about are about native Hawaiians and what they're dealing with. And then underneath that, at the absolute core of the piece, is asking the question, what are we doing for those who will follow us? How are we preparing our children so that when they grow up, growing up in this post-9-11 world where all they have is the media constantly barraging them with news of terror attacks and school shootings, what happens when these kids, they grow up, they have an ideal, they have something they're excited about that they want to go with, they want to fight for, and because they've been insinuated with so much of this, they think maybe violence is a proper route to take to accomplish it. So that's really at the core. What are we doing for those who are going to follow in our footsteps? That's very cool. And I take it that you are not... you are opening people's eyes, but you are not interested in giving someone a political slant, pushing them down one road or another. I'm really not all sides, as much as humanly possible, all sides are being represented. So you have the different kind of sides currently with the Native Hawaiian community, but you also have people who are not of the community but still on the island. One of our characters is a representative for the U.S. government, the senator that represents Hawaii. So we ask these questions not just of the Native population, but everyone that's involved. Okay, cool. I've seen productions that try to present a situation and all of the opposition are all bad people. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and that, I feel, I don't feel that's entertainment and I don't feel it's going to teach anyone anything because they become caricatures and a person to whom we cannot relate. And we all have... We're all human. We all make mistakes. We all make bad decisions sometimes, but the importance is in redeeming that and understanding why. They say that people who are literate grow up without learning problem-solving and understanding why something bad happened because they aren't able to get inside the head of characters like we do through books and through theater as well. Okay, well, there you're seeing some information about the show. We're going to take our first break and we hope you'll come back and join us. I am talking with Kevin C.K. Burke of Manoa Valley University of Hawaii at Manoa. We'll see you in a moment. Aloha, how are you doing? Welcome to Ibaachitak. I'm here at Gordo the Texar on Think Tech Hawaii. I'm here with my good old buddy, Andrew the security guy. Hey, everybody, how are you doing? Aloha. Good to have Andrew here in the house. Please join us every Friday from 1 to 130 and follow us up on YouTube. And remember, as we say at the end of every show, how are you doing? Aloha, I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii is My Mainland every Friday here on Think Tech Hawaii. I also have a blog of the same name at kauilukas.com where you can see all of my past shows. Join me this Friday and every Friday at 3 p.m. Aloha. This is Steve Katz. I'm a marriage and family therapist and I do shrink wrap, which is now going to every other week, all during the summer and maybe forever after. Take care of your mental health this summer. Have a good time. Do what's fun and take good care of yourself. Bye-bye. During the show, I forgot to tell you during the first segment, I apologize for that, but you can ask us a question live at Think Tech HI. Okay, we're talking with Kevin C.K. Berg. On the break, we're talking about playing a bad character, playing someone who is the antagonist. And I think one of the most beautiful opportunities we get to experience on theater is playing that antagonist with heart and soul and recognizing that they're not doing what they're doing or saying what they're saying to be evil. If you're playing a character based in any reality whatsoever, nobody is trying to be evil, everybody. Nobody wants to be evil, no. So the most heinous things that they're doing, they're doing it for a very good reason and that's the exercises to figure out what it is and then embody that. Yes, exactly. Good. I'm glad that you feel that way because I want to come see your show, I've seen shows before where I sit there thinking, oh, don't try to hit me over the head with something. And that's not what we're trying to do. What I'm hoping is that it starts a conversation, exactly what I said before the break. What are we doing for those who will follow? What are we doing for the children? What are we doing for the Kiki? What's happening and what steps are we taking? Because the world is changing. It's changing and it's changing faster and faster every single day. We have the presidential elections coming up in November along with all the other elections and that's what's our world going to be like after that. So all we can do is not cocoon but to take care of what we have responsibility for. I think our responsibilities are larger than ever before. I really do because we have so much more opportunity for efficacy. We have to grab it by the horns or align with someone that we have good reason to believe is going to do a good job of grabbing those horns. So you were also involved in Laia Kauai. I was, yes, I was one of the assistant directors. And you are Kanaka Mali yourself. I was one of those people in the audience who understands a tiny portion of the Hawaiian language. It was so beautifully done. I was really glad to see that for those who are watching and aren't familiar with the show. It was written by Haileopua Baker and was entirely done in the Hawaiian language and it was on the main stage at Kennedy Theater. Kudos to them for doing that. I hope we see much more of that sort of work there. And it was packed for every single performance. It was packed. And not just, oh, it's a full house. There's a lot of people sold out, packed. It was one of the most successful shows that year and probably one of the most successful shows in recent memory. Oh, yeah. Yes, I agree. And the energy in the room was amazing. And I'm going to say probably half of us didn't speak the language at least, really. There were programs that explained some of the information, but was it considered experimental theater? I don't think so. Kumu Haile has been working in Hanakeaka for a very long time and she and the other Kumus working with her. I don't think that it was experimental. They knew what they wanted going into it. They knew exactly what they wanted the audience to get going into it. So there was a very clear vision. I think my production is far more experimental. But no, I think that she and the entire creative staff was very grounded and forward moving in what they wanted. Okay. That was an awesome opportunity for you to be able to work with all of the Kumus involved in that show. It was. It was a blessing because I am Kanaka Mali. I am native Hawaiian, but I'm diaspora, right? So like I said, I spent most of my life in Minnesota. Yeah, how did that happen? My mom visited a family and she had me there and we never came back. Oh, okay. Well, Minnesota is beautiful. Minnesota is beautiful. It has a lovely three seasons and winter. It has some awesome fishing. Wonderful fishing. And loons. I miss that. I bet you do. There are some things that I miss. I miss a little bit of frost on the ground. I miss overcast skies for weeks on end. And I do miss loons. It's the most amazing sound at night to hear it floating over the water. I had a ringtone on my phone that was a loon for a long time. I've been up there fishing. Sure. So, okay, that's how you got there. I'm sorry I got a little sidetracked, but I had to know. So you're diaspora working with Kumuhai Lee on the show. Yes, and she really took me under her wing and I'm so thankful for that because when I was looking to get a graduate degree because like I said, I wanted to teach at the college level. And so I was like, I need to get my masters. Where am I going to go? And I think my grandma on my mom's side, she said, why don't you apply to UH? And I was like, I didn't really think about it. And she said, I think you should. And that just kind of set in motion. And then Kumuhai Lee, as soon as I met her, she would just like, yep. Awesome. It was supposed to happen. So even though, so I was in the same boat as you, I don't speak Olala Hawaii. I know some words now having been in that production and part of that production, but I'm by no means fluent. But being able to see how she crafted that story so that people would understand it, even if they didn't understand the language, how clear and precise that was. And then if you did understand the language, the poetry, and just the poetry of the words, even if you didn't understand it, it just all synergized together. It was really amazing to be a part of. It was really beautiful. And it was very gently told. You also brought a piece from Chicago here. Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Yes. The Neo-Futurist work. Tell us a little bit about that. And I'm asking you about this. We have a few minutes left, but I think it sort of fills in the story around your upcoming show. Sure. So when I was, not a freshman, when I was a first year here at UH, I really wanted to do something. I wanted to direct a show, and I'm here for directing, but I wanted to stretch myself. I wanted to see what other kind of shows are there. And I did my undergrad in Chicago, where the Neo-Futurists call home. And I remember going to see their shows, and I thought, man, if we could do that here, like if we could do some Neo-Futurist plays here. And so I got in touch with them, and they said, well, we have this option, where you can actually do 30 of the published plays that we've written. And so we did that, and we brought that over here, and we did 30 plays from Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, 30 plays in 60 minutes, and it went like gangbusters. It was so successful, and everyone's like, what is this? 30 plays in 60 minutes? How is this possible? Because it's true, they're not just skits, they're actual plays. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. And then the year after that, I did The Cows Outside the Fence, which is based on my own premise and philosophy, but we still used, with their permission, the techniques of the plays. So there was a closed line with 30 plays, it was 30 plays in 60 minutes. So with their permission, we did that, but we actually wrote our own plays the second time around. Oh, awesome. Are you getting involved in writing because the story's not out there that you want to tell? Or, yeah, okay. Pretty much. I'm a firm believer that if you're going to try to do immersive theater or you're going to try to do something, you know, an open frame form where there is no fourth wall and you're expanding things, there needs to be one person that has a clear vision of it. And it just so happened that the story I wanted to tell, like you said, it just wasn't there, so I had to write it and then direct the show that I had written so that that vision was clear, so the actors could feel safe, so the audience will be able to feel safe, because that's really the important thing about immersive theater to me. And where do you go next? I don't know. We'll go where the winds take us. You've been to Minnesota, so... I have been to Minnesota. Hopefully, you know, positions are starting to open up for the next academic year and we'll be applying to those positions and get some bites. Maybe I'll go back to the continent or maybe I'll be here. Who knows? And what is your overreaching goal for the work that you're doing? What do you want? I want to do two things. I want people who are not normally in theater to not get hooked but to be interested. I want to do things that challenges people and not in such a way where they're automatically shutting down, like some people have a tendency to do. I want to do work that makes you question. I want to do work that if someone sees my show, they don't think about it for another two weeks and then they're at Starbucks and all of a sudden, wait a minute. So for non-theater people, for non-artistic people, that's what I want. And for the theater people involved in my stuff, I said before the break that we are coming on a big change in the country and I'm a firm believer that we as artists and not just theater practitioners but musicians and visual artists, we have a responsibility to make sure that the soul of humanity remains intact through whatever transition comes. It's our responsibility, it's our culliana to kind of safeguard this. And so that's the other thing that I try to impart to my actors and those involved. Yeah, that's kind of heavy. Kind of heavy a little bit. You've come a long way from Rodgers and Hammerstein. Yeah, I guess I have. There's still room for that though. Okay, so let's talk about, let's talk to some logistics about your show. We have about a minute left. So the show opens October 19th. It will run through October 23rd. October 19th through 22nd is a 730. October 23rd is a Sunday, so that's a matinee. Ticket prices, can every, all the information can be found at manoa.hawaii.edu slash live on stage forward slash a-house-divided. It's all there, but it's a wonderful thing. And don't be afraid, try something new. I promise you you'll be safe doing it. Awesome, that's great. Thank you so much for being here. I hope you, let's collaborate on something sometime because we are doing also everything that we can to bring people into theater who don't normally go there and recognize this is not your grandmother's theater. No, it's not. I also say it's not your grandfather's Chinatown, but I'm in Chinatown. And I have to say, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here, for watching us on center stage. Thank a few people here in the studio. Rich Prepis, our floor manager who's right over there. Thank you, Rich. Zuri Bender, our studio overlord who is in my ear. And Jay Fidel, who somehow manages to put all of this together. Thank you very much and we will see you next week here on center stage Wednesday at 2. Bye.