THE LAST STATE
Written and
Performed by
Sarah Rudinoff
Directed by Sheila Daniels
On the Boards
2004
Live, Orginal Music by John Ackermann
Set Design: John DeShazo and Susannah Anderson
Lighting Design: Robert Aguilar
Costume Design: Terry Frank
The Last State delved into the experience of growing up as a "haole" (white person) in Hawaii and the often tumultuous and tragic history of Hawaii, which stands in stark contrast to the idyllic image often portrayed in advertisements.
Raised on the island of Kauai, Sarah digs into the nature of paradise. Overgrown landscapes to hide in, a place for wanderers to disappear, and the ancestral home to kings and queens. Can a white girl ever truly be “from Hawaii”? Using transcripts from the U.S. Senate hearings on statehood and her own memories of the complicated relationship to home, this is an “Aloha State” rarely experienced.
Watch excerpts from The Last State
Reviews
“The Last State ignites its own propulsion. Rudinoff’s language is at turns compactly elegant (the image of mud-caked children) and twistingly insightful (a character who owns a resort defending her exploitation of faux-authenticity). The Last State is enormously thoughtful and bold…the kind of work-in-progress you feel privileged to witness.”
Annie Wagner, The Stranger
Gallery
All Pre-Production and Production Photos by Adam L. Weintraub
