The Arts

Drama and Theatre

Theatre has a long history at Punahou.

Though the Drama Department was officially formed in 1986, theatrical productions have been a part of Punahou curricular or co-curricular activities since its founding in 1841.
 
  • In K – 5, theatre is incorporated into chapel productions, with the direction of drama faculty.
  • In grades 6 – 8, drama, musical theatre, improvisation and technical theatre electives become available.
  • The Academy (grades 9 – 12) theatre courses include varied topics in acting, musical theatre and technical theatre, and fulfill the graduation requirement of two credits in the Visual and Performing Arts.

URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL


Musical and Lyrics
Book and Lyrics
Mark Hollmann
Greg Kotis

Winner of three Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards and two Obie Awards, Urinetown is a hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, environmental collapse, privatization of natural resources, bureaucracy, municipal politics, and musical theatre itself! Hilariously funny and touchingly honest, Urinetown provides a fresh perspective on one of America's greatest art forms.
 
In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he's had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!
 
Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Urinetown is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, Urinetown catapults the "comedic romp" into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.

Tickets on sale March 14.

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Theatrical Productions

Each year the Theatre Department produces several mainstage and black box productions. Students in Jr. School and Academy are invited to open auditions for Junior School, Academy or All-School plays and musicals. Rehearsals generally take place after school and select weekends. Support for all productions comes from a team of professional directors and designers, as well as a robust volunteer crew.
 

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    Special events include Senior Variety Show, Drama Workshop productions and several chapel dramatic presentations.

    Drama Workshop productions are curricular Academy shows produced in an intimate theater that seats 60 people. An Academy student can be in a Drama Workshop production by enrolling in the Theatre Performance class, or by producing a show on their own, through the Independent Study Program of the Theatre Department. Every year (depending on enrollment) the Theatre Performance class produces between one and three full-length plays or musicals.

Past Productions

Arts in the Bulletin

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