No strings attached
Koolau: A True Story of Kauai / In 1892, a paniolo from Kauai named Kaluaikoolau (Koolau) contracted the deadly Hansen’s disease, then known as leprosy. Rather than be separated from his wife and son and exiled to Molokai, Koolau took his family to Kalalau Valley in the hopes that they would not be found. Though they were tracked down, Koolau shot those who sought to capture him. Years after Koolau’s death, his wife, Piilani, moved back to her home in Kekaha and had their story transcribed by Kahikina Kelekona (also known as John Sheldon).
While the legend of Koolau has been staged in local theaters, few have seen it expressed through inanimate objects, as designer and director Tom Lee does in his multi-media puppet performance, Koolau: A True Story of Kauai, which made it’s debut in New York in 2008.
It features Japanese kuruma ningyo (wheeled puppet) figures, animated projections and shadow puppets. Unlike most kuruma ningyo puppets, which are intricately designed, Lee purposefully carved his puppets in a “simple, but expressive” style to reflect the traditional woodcut designs of the islands.
“The puppet can’t talk, can’t do anything,” says Lee. “But they can embody a kind of emotional life for an audience. When the audience sees the puppets doing some action that they recognize as human… something in them clicks and they are able to relate to it on an emotional level.”
Lee’s creative and innovative means of storytelling caught the eye of those at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Outreach College, which is bringing Koolau to Windward Community College’s Paliku Theatre.
Lee, who grew up in Mililani, first heard the story of Koolau from a family friend while on Kauai about 13 years ago. While reading Piilani’s account, Lee says he was floored by its beauty.
“[Koolau] was really fighting for what he believed in and, for the most part, for a kind of self-respect and dignity,” says Lee. “It’s really about the dignity of the individual and the ability to be with your loved ones and not be taken away from [them]. At the core, it’s about that devotion to family and the importance for him to kind of be in control of his own fate, even if he was going to die.”
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