 To talk story with John Waihe where I have a chance to present some of my friends and some of the good things and as well as the issues that you may be concerned about here in Hawaii. My guest this afternoon is a very good friend, he is a former representative, former state representative for 23 years, he is now the chair of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and they get to decide important questions about labor and management issues but more importantly he's got another life where he does some very interesting things for the people of Hawaii. So would you all help me in welcoming Marcus Oshiro, Chairman Oshiro, I remember when you were the chair of the finance committee for the state legislature and now you've got to go back and ask them for money. That's right I have to go hand in hand every year and plead my case and fortunately my old buddies and old friends are still there. Well okay so now you're chair and for 23 years before that you were in the state legislature, I wanted to let people know that before that I used to, your dad, your dad was my campaign manager, a very famous, very fantastic person, Bob Oshiro but we're here to talk about his son, not about the dad but what I remember about meeting you was that your dad was my campaign manager so he would put on all these events and you would be with the camera and you would be actually film these events, you remember doing all of that? Yeah, I'm glad you remember it because I would go around with a VHS camera, a big heavy one, with a battery pack and all the coffee hours we would have, the early breakfast meetings that were stereo, the events at Dots, we even went out to Waianae, Nanakuli, wherever the events were. Yeah, Sparrow City and I took the camera and we created history, you actually recorded history, you know, it was fantastic, well I didn't have this done on the agenda but what has happened to all that? I still have them, we've used them before in other activities and I got to turn them over to Heather Junee. Oh, terrific! Can I give it to her and have her put it on the public archive? Well, for people who, I mean I know Heather has created a public archive of many historical events in Hawaii and oh that's fantastic. So she's been getting all these videotapes and audio tapes going that your father made you do. So what's interesting, well that in itself is a very interesting story but you, somewhere along the way, you went from being in back of a camera to in front of a camera, you are actually, you actually do some acting now. Yeah, you know, I'm fortunate to be cast in Kumakuhua's last play of the season, The Beer Can Hat written by Darryl Lum. It's a world premiere and never been done as a stage play down at Kumakuhua 46 Merchant Street. You're familiar with Kumakuhua. Right, right, it's the old Kinkamehameha 5th post office building. That's right and thanks to you, back in 1994, Kumakuhua was given a lease through DAGs, Department of Accounting General Services and they have a lease. Yeah, so they've been using that building, it's got their stage and it's perfect. A permanent home for Kumakuhua, you know. I want to come back and I want to talk to you about the actual play. But before that, since we're on the subject, tell us about Kumakuhua. What is it then? Who is it? Kumakuhua came out in the early 70s, 7071, brainchild of some graduate students, Professor Emeritus Dennis Carroll at the UH Drama Department, to really create a theater plays, theater theme mission for locally produced plays, local themes, local writers, local performers, exclusively. And that was back in the 70s, you know. So we're 50 years down the road and that's why Kumakuhua is so important. It's for the local people, local playwrights, local themes. So it gives them a chance to express their talent. Yeah, this is all of Hawaii's stories, you know, Hawaii's stories, Hawaii's people stories. And these are stories that deal with some of the hot button issues of homelessness, you know, drugs, some issues of land use, water use, very important contemporary issues, but done on stage in a theatrical manner. One of a kind, you won't find any other theater in a time frame like this. Why has there been any, any transition from the small stage at Kumakuhua, which is the types of plays you're doing to, you know... This is still a small stage. It's like off, off Broadway, you know, a hundred seats. Yeah, but has anyone actually transitioned? I know, for example, that, oh, what's her name? The pigeon that she... Lee, Lee, Catalina. Lee Catalina did a couple of plays. Yes, Lee has done there, Vicky Newboy has done there. Well, a long time ago, the first, she did the fairy tales. I forgot the name of the playwright. How can I do this? Lisa Matsumoto. Lisa, Lisa, and she, you know, Lisa, forgive me. I don't know why I forgot your name, but she, she began doing local plays. And, but what you have done is gone way beyond. Yeah, you know, it's still a very intimate theater. A hundred seats, 110 seats. You are right there with the performers, and the performers are right there with the audience. You know, there's a relationship, there's an energy, there's a resonance that occurs during the performance. And it's very intimate. You can, you can feel and see... And you can really get into the... Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, there's, yeah, it cuts right through everything. Well, I think, I think that's so important, you know. And so we, you, you are in the last play of the season. Yeah, the beer can hat, it's about two young boys in high school. One's a special needs, Intellectual Challenge, young man. But this is in the, it's not in high school today. It's high school back in 1970. 1970, 1972, he has one good friend who's a regular or normal type of child, maybe college bound. But he suffers all of the effects of being a special needs, unique child. Broken household, single family household. I play his father. Really? I play his father. I am somewhat unemployed or unemployable. I have a substance abuse problem. Maybe I drink too much. And I have my own issues about, you know, being a single parent, raising a special needs child. So you're a single parent raising a special needs... This is heavy stuff. Yeah, in the 70s, right? Yeah. You know, you learned about IDEA and all this kind of stuff. Yeah, but despite that, Bobo... Who is the special needs child? Yeah, Bobo, yeah. Sales newspapers. And that's the connectivity between Bobo and his good friend, Jr. They both sell newspapers. Bobo does it on the streets in front of the Qing store, the mom and pop store in the community. Royal community could be Honoka could be Waiwa. Or it could be where we grew up. Exactly. Right, in the 70s, right? Right, right. But that's it. And the story tells about how this boy, special needs boy, overcomes the adversity of his household, of his schoolmates, of the bullies, and the people who come into his life and help him, encourage him. You know, whether it's on the street or at the carnival. You know... No, not his father who you play is not the nicest character. No, you come to the show and you can judge for yourself. But my wife tells me, you're not a likable guy. But you are a likable guy. You're just playing an unlikable guy. Yeah, if I do my job, yeah. So, one of the interesting things about all of this is that Kumakuhua does deal with these types of real issues in Hawaii. Because what you're describing... Well, first of all, the setting is back in the historically memorable time for many of us who grew up in the country. But the issues of what special needs children face is... Well, you know, let's talk about that. Has that gotten any better today? Or do they face the same challenges? They face the same challenges, but I think I would expand it to a larger class of young adults. Those who are bullied, whatever they might be, whether they're challenged intellectually, physically... That's a really interesting idea. Even behaviorally as adolescents, right? Developing who they are, why am I here, what's my role, purpose, you know, they're going through this whole thing as young adults. Right. And they've been challenged on so many fronts that perhaps you and I were growing up. So the idea of having a friend or two is important. So what is it about this friendship that seems to make everything work? It's all about having that one individual in your life that cares about you, understands you, and... Even if it's a peer. Yeah, it's willing to stand up for you, defend you, you know. That means everything to this young man, having that one friend, you know. Yeah, even if the situation sort of continues, but at least having somebody with you. Yeah, yeah. Being so much. Yeah. And I think... I met so much to all of us when we were in school. So it's something that everyone can relate to growing up in that period of adolescence and discovering who you are. And I think today this modern age of bullying and Facebook and Twitter and... Yeah, all the social media that's pounding on kids. Exactly, yeah. So I think there's a message there for today's audience of being aware of how we treat each other and the effects we have on each other, you know. Right. Let me say something. Now, this play was written by... Well, first of all, the name of the play, we unfortunately didn't say that as often as we should. But the name of the play that you're in is called the... It's not called D, it's called... Oh, no, yeah, yeah. It's called The Beer Can Hat. Yeah, The Beer Can Hat. You remember those beer can hats? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your auntie, my auntie, you know, would crochet and go out there and we would cut with a metal scissors, you know, the beer can, Primo... Yeah, you're right, right. Only a Budweiser. You know, I haven't seen beer can hats in a long time. That's right. If you come to the show, you'll see an authentic beer can. But what's the symbolism? Why? The beer can hat, you know, is of course a recycled item. You know, it's handcrafted. It's very unique to this time, that tradition. And it suddenly ties everyone together. Everyone had a beer can hat. That was cool, right? Yeah, it was. It was an authentic beer can hat, right? That was before we slightly really became a big deal with cans, or we did that already, right? Just as much as redeeming bottles. You remember? Right, right, right. You put the bottles in the cases and take them to the presentation center. And getting 50 cents a case, yeah. Remember that? Remember that Primo beer with a beer bottle, I mean soda bottles, right? Yeah. So this is... So this story is built around the idea of creating something... Recycling something special. Something special, something unique, out of something that may be discarded, and you may throw away. I know of value in it, but in the hands of the right parties, the right persons, it's tremendous value. Beautiful, right? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's the freshest thing for this... So it was this, but the play was written by... Daryl Lump. Daryl Lump. Yeah. Now who is Daryl Lump? Yeah, Daryl Lump is a well-known Hawaii playwright, poet, founder of Bamboo Ridge Press. You know, Bamboo Ridge has been around... Right, right. So how have people... Yeah. Yeah, you gotta know Bamboo Ridge Press has been around for, I think, 50 years or so. And it's basically been writing local stories about local parties. Local stories, local poetry, local themes, and publishing it. Actually publishing it and having a market, and getting it out there for people to enjoy. Well, I tell you what, we're gonna come right back right after this short break. And I wanna get from, you know, to the Daryl Lumps and this story. Because one of the interesting things is that when you set this story in the 1970s, the language that you spoke is gonna be part of the play. So everybody will be right back. Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My show is based on my book, also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about creating a superior culture of excellence, leadership, and finding greatness. I interview guests who are successful in business, sports, and life, which is sure to inspire you in finding your greatness. Join me every Monday as we go Beyond the Lines at 11 a.m. Aloha. Aloha, I'm Cynthia Sinclair. And I'm Tim Appachella. We are hosts here at Think Tech Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness in Hawaii. We are a Hawaii non-profit that depends on the generosity of its supporters to keep on going. We'd be grateful if you'd go to thinktechhawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Thanks so much. Welcome back to Talk Story with John Wahee. And we have an interesting guest this afternoon. The chairperson of the Labor Relations Board, who actually is pursuing his passion, which is to be an actor in local plays and in a local theater right next door to the studio here at the Kamehameha Fifth building. And it's on the corner of Merchant and Bethel. That's right. But corner of Merchant and Bethel, and for all of you who are interested in seeing topical issues being played out and discussed right next door at the Kumukahua Theater. So I want to call that to their everybody's attention. All right. But for those of you who have a question and would like to call in, our number is 808-374-2014. So we're back again with Marcus. Now, tell me Marcus, tell me more about, first of all, tell me more about Lum's vision when he wrote this play, The Beer Can Head. Daryl, he wrote this a long time ago. Yeah, yeah. Back in the 70s. And since then he has done many, many more spectacular things. And so this was a gem that was hidden out there. This is something that he kept out of circulation for a while. I think he really thought about it. Just recently did the screenplay. I think screenplay and also this is a stage play, of course. World premiere. It hasn't been staged before anywhere, but this is the first time at Kumukahua. He told me that this is actually part of a story that I think he and his wife, through their observation as teachers, knew about children who at that time, young adults at that time, who lived like this, you know, lived very poor, well, oftentimes back in those days. And probably today, unfortunately, a lot of times these children, because they're difficult. And so they are, people find dealing with them difficult. And so some oftentimes they're abused. And it's probably a lot of, a lot of emotion in the play. I would think anyway. You've got to come see the play. Yeah, well, we're hoping that, I'm hoping that my audience will be out there. No, I think they will. They'll see, they might see themselves. They'll see others they know. So you play the dad. I play the dad. And what's really interesting is that I'm somewhat related to the actor who plays Bobo, my son. This is a small Hawaii, is such a small place. He actually was raised by his grandfather in Oaxiawa, Hagi'o family who ran the Hagi'o service station, Chevron service station in Oaxiawa. He's also the nephew of my cousin Charlene, who was at one time married to his uncle. Oh, wow. So this is like Ohana. Yeah, it's like family, right? That's how Hawaii is, right? We're so close, right? But the story, I mean, I am so fascinated by the story. Actually, I can't wait to see it because I am so fascinated by the story that I think is so relevant as we were talking about to today's day and age. Now, one of the interesting things about this play and about many of the other plays at Komu Kahua is the fact that it's often done in dialect. It's done in the Creole, Hawaiian Creole language. Hawaiian Pigeon, right? Yeah, yeah, it's Hawaiian Pigeon. In fact, it's interesting because unlike most theaters where you have to speak the king's English or proper English, you have to have the ability to speak and use the Pigeon language on stage in a theatrical manner. It's not easy. I mean, because I've watched people try to speak Pigeon, even those that grew up speaking it. But when they try to do it, it loses something. You know, it gets a little pretentious. Yeah, yeah. So you have to, you know, for people like me, I'm, thank God, goodness, I'm Hawaiian. I grew up with that language. That was the language we spoke. But, you know, it tells you about the play, it tells you about the culture, it tells you about the people and, you know, the history of the language. It really, I mean, really, it's not, and you know, the thing about Pigeon is that it wasn't necessarily the same in every place. But if you heard somebody speak it and you grew up speaking it, you would instantly recognize that this is the person that we could probably understand you, even if they grew up in Wahiawa or Honoka or someplace else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and then you will hear phrases that immediately you will connect with, you will know the meaning of it. You know, the word troll, for example. Troll, right? They're not through of a troll, right? You know what that means, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's sort of interesting and I've had this discussion is that I think that Pigeon English is not only vocabulary. That's what I think the real challenge of the actor of yourself is, well, first of all, you've got to sound authentic. So the dialogue, the written dialogue itself needs to make sense. But it's not just saying the word is saying the using the right, what do you call it? Right pronunciation. Yeah, yeah. You know, and because you can, you can overdo it too. You know, and so what do you do? I mean, what do you do? You train for it? I mean, you read the screen? No, I'm blessed. I think I'm just blessed by the introduction, I guess. No, I really think so. What do you go to high school? Well, I went to a little high school. The best high school in the world. That's the best, the best, one of the best places to learn how to speak. You know, by the same time, you know, that's why I got turned on to English literature. I got turned on to theater and it was through Roberta Tom, my senior high school teacher who gave me a dare of this, you know, surfer job. You try something different, you know. Right, right, right. To memorize lines and to be disciplined and know about acting. And it was Roberta Tom that gave me the acting bug. And she was, she was your drama teacher? She was an English teacher. English teacher. But for the senior year, we did a drama production and she cast me in the diary of Anne Frank and I played Mr. Crawler. And I just speak proper English and memorize my lines and cues and all those kind of stuff. But I had such a thrill entertaining my friends. Well, you know what's interesting because we just had this discussion actually, this today, I just had this discussion. And I actually made a statement, it's a proposition. I said, you can speak or say, you can say an entire sentence in proper English, but say it with the right accent. And everybody will know that you went to Lelihua High School. I mean, just by, by the way, you know, you said show, you know, or the way you don't use the THS, you know, like it's not this or that or there, it's this that, you know. And you, but when you hear somebody say that, bam, there's a relationship, you know, because we have the same background. And is there an attempt? What are we doing here when we write plays and fidgets? Are we trying to be authentic or are we trying to perpetuate the language or maybe both? I think both. And I think that's why for me as an actor or performer, I want to honor the script. I want to honor the playwright's choice for choosing da or dat, or is it this or that? And I think, you know. Oh, like, yeah. We're sitting here and we're starting to slip into that accent. Right. And there's a reason for the playwright, for Darryl's great, great, great work, you know, to make that choice. And there's a reason why he made that choice. Because he wanted to show a moment in time and a culture in time. I would presume, you know. I think so. He wanted to highlight that and celebrate, you know, the relationships that form around this type of cultural. So, you know, is this your first play that you've done in Pigeon? No. You've done this before? Yeah. Yeah. So what else? What else have you done? I've done other plays at Como Cojo. I did, you know, things with Id Sakamoto's plays, you know, Life of the Land, Corner Coffee, A Loa Las Vegas, you know. See, this is like a whole aspect of yourself that I don't think a lot of people know about, you know. You're an actor. Well, you thought I was acting at the state capitol, right? Well, yeah, I thought you were pretty good at it. But as a politician, you know, I think as an actor there's a burden because you're actually communicating, you're trying to make us something, a different character. Yeah, I've been really blessed to work with great performers, you know, just real high-class performers, great directors. And just become a different person, you know, live that person's life, you know, get into that person, you know. And really feel what they feel. Yeah, really empathetic, you know, about that person. So even with this character I'm playing in this... No, you have some empathy for that. I do, I do. You know, you've got to get into the psyche of this individual. How, who, what, where, when, how, you know, how is, why is he the way he is today? You know, well, where, where is he from? What's his, what's his story? And how does he get to be... Right, who are his parents, you know. And how does he get to be a single parent or something like that? Exactly. So, when does the beer can hat start? I mean, where is it happening now? No, it opens on May 23rd at 8 o'clock. May 23rd, 8 o'clock at Kumakuhua, which is located on the corner of Bethel and Merchant Street in downtown Honolulu, right? That's right. And it runs for four weeks, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 8 o'clock PM, 2 o'clock matinee on Sundays. Call and get your tickets, you know. Get your tickets. So we want to invite everybody. This will be exciting. This is about Hawaii. This is about some very important issues in the state of Hawaii. And you get to see Marcus, a chair of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board up there, speaking excellent, uh, Vincent, which he actually got polished up at Lenehua High School. So, Marcus, thank you very much. And everybody, the name is Beer Can Hat. Go see it. Kumakuhua Theater. Thank you. Thank you.