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Steinbeck's "Of Mice & Men" is a great example of a piece of simple art with deep and complex meaning behind it. It's one of my favorite pieces of literature.

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I think many different ideas and mediums influence the way I think about my art and other peoples' art. There's a certain grit (or maybe genuineness) that many well-known American artists portray through their work, regardless of the medium. I generally like paintings, plays, books, sculptures, etc. that are simple but also complex in the way that catches your eye. Of course, outside of the realm of art, my many other interests influence my artistic approach. My interest in politics contextualizes my ingestion and creation of art/media. My skills as a journalist pique my interest in genres like documentary theatre. The most interesting stories to me are the ones that have actually happened. That's one reason why I chose to emphasize my studies in dramaturgy. I love deep-diving into the real world behind these plays.

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Another thing I appreciate about "Frances Ha" (pictured above) is the film was entirely shot on a DSLR and played back in black and white. It has a DIY vibe.

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I also really enjoy art that captures a feeling that you can't even put into words. Like when you see an amazing photograph that strikes you and you're left speechless. Noah Baumbach's movie "Frances Ha" is a great example of this. It follows Frances (played by Greta Gerwig) as she navigates early adulthood in New York City. That's honestly the best way to describe it. The first time you watch it, it doesn't feel like there's any plot, but by the end of it, you know what the film is about and you feel fulfilled. I would love to tell stories like "Frances Ha," that reflect life so much it doesn't even feel like a story.

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I saw this photo on Instagram and had saved in my library. I love spending time in the mountains and this image just took me straight to them. I love the colors

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Photography has been my primary artistic interest as of late. There's something about a well composed image that just scratches the brain. It's also a skill that transfers well to theatre, especially when staging and light designing. I honestly feel like I enjoy looking at photos more than I do taking them. Instagram feeds my hunger for good photos, especially since good photography books are too expensive. I love a photo's ability to transport you to a place like this one above. I'll add one of my favorite photos I've taken that I feel achieves the same effect.

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I took this photo in Lincoln, New Mexico. I really enjoy all of the aspects of this photo. The way the mountains are lit, the white picket fence, and the pine tree next to the church all complement the subject of the photo so well. I took this photo when I was in high school. Since then, I took at least a two year hiatus from photography. When I got back into it, I found a love for film photography again. This photo was taken on Kodak 400TX.

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The intersection of all three of these things intrigue me so much. When you view it as a triangle, you see all the different possibilities. On the multimedia-journalism side, you have all sorts of interesting options: radio reporting, video reporting, social media reporting, web reporting, etc. On the journalism-theatre side you have documentary theatre, which in and of itself comes in many different forms. And then there's multimedia-theatre, in which we've seen a lot of development in the last 10 years or so. I think of recent productions of West Side Story and Sunset Boulevard which had extensive use of cameras that were similar to those used in television or film. What are the limits of this in the theatre? How can we harness to tell stories theatrically?

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I chose the stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's film "Network" because it is the closest thing I've found to involving all three of the concepts in the aforementioned section. I also used this play for a dramaturgy packet as a part of my portfolio for admission.

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I enjoy all of the art that Donald Glover makes. I just always enamored by multi-hyphenate people, like Glover. I love his acting. His music makes me laugh, dance and cry. And his award-winning shows that he's produced have been some of my favorites. I want to tap into all the areas that spark my creative interest, but now it's just so hard to do that because of school and work, etc. I'd love to write, direct, produce, perform, report, etc.

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This is probably my favorite article I've ever written. As a Native Hawaiian myself, it was fun getting to deep dive into this and talk with two athletes I love. I hope to continue writing stories like this one in a potential future journalism career.

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Keonilei Akana and Devin Kahahawai were barely teammates six years ago. They met for the first time at varsity volleyball tryouts at a school exclusively for Native Hawaiian students. Now, they're roommates an ocean away from the islands they continue to call home. They show such a strong connection that one could consider this pair of Texas volleyball players to be sisters.

The room they Zoomed from was understated, almost bare - a lei hung from a mirror, and a stray "Happy Birthday!" balloon lingered in the background.

"It's actually a funny story," sophomore outside hitter Kahahawai said of their first meeting. "I was honestly terrified of her. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, it's Kaylei Akana.' It was honestly one of my core memories from high school."

Then-freshman Kahahawai had every right to feel a little intimidated. Entering her junior year of high school, Akana had put in the work for Kamehameha Kapālama's varsity volleyball team for the last two years, earning the Honolulu Star-Advertiser's Player of the Year award in 2019. Now UT's junior libero, Akana served the ace that secured Texas the national title over Louisville last December.

"I looked up to her," Kahahawai said. "(Going from) watching her on TV and going to the games and being a fan in the stands to playing alongside her on the court was surreal to me. And it's really funny that about six years later, here we are, roommates about 3,000 miles away."

But of course, they're more than just roommates. As teammates, Akana and Kahahawai not only represent the Longhorns at the highest levels of collegiate volleyball but also their culture, home state and one of the smallest ethnic groups and in .

Nationwide, Asian American-Pacific Islander involvement in the NCAA has increased by 50% since 2012. According to the 2020 U.S. Census , more Native Hawaiians live on the United States mainland than in Hawaii. With these notable shifts, Akana and Kahahawai pride themselves on their Native Hawaiian heritage on and off the court.

Preserving their culture has been a precedence for Hawaiians for over 150 years. Princess Pauahi Pākī noticed a decline in the Hawaiian population and culture in the late 1800s. When she died in 1884, she left about 375,000 acres in her will to endow the Kamehameha Schools. The institution has operated since 1887, when Hawaii was an independent kingdom, and includes campuses across the state, according to its . Kahahawai and Akana's time at Kamehameha stoked their passion for Hawaiian culture.

Students must take Hawaiian language and history classes, fulfilling Princess Pauahi's wishes. Additionally, volunteer opportunities and field trips across the islands give students like Akana and Kahahawai a hands-on Hawaiian education. One field trip brought the pair to Mauna Kea on the Big Island during against the construction of the volcano's 14th telescope.

"Not only were we there together as a team, but we were able to show our support for our heritage and our culture," Akana said.

Akana's dad makes the 3,700-mile trip to Austin every couple of weeks to see her and her brother, Tausili, who plays for Texas' football team. A new direct flight to Honolulu by Hawaiian Airlines shortens the trip. Akana said she "absolutely loves that route."

Kahahawai and Akana said Texas' volleyball program feels like a family, one of the reasons they decided to wear burnt orange. Akana said "everyone supports each other" in Hawaii since communities are much smaller. One can find that idea of family everywhere in Hawaii, even in competitive sports, which brings different communities together.

"It's just a very big family culture similar to back home," Kahahawai said. "Having two Hawaii girls here - at the time, it was Jhenna Gabriel and Saige (Ka'aha'aina-Torres) who were here when I took my visit - was a big thing for me."

Akana played at Nebraska for two years before moving to Texas. A Longhorn volleyball camp in 2016 and head coach Jerritt Elliott's history at the University of Hawaii drew Akana to Texas.

"Although I love Hawaii, I left (because) I wanted to try and make an impact somewhere else," Akana said."Being able to show people at home that you'd be able to leave and still be successful."

It's a sentiment felt by many Native Hawaiians in Hawaii, said Hōkūlani K. Aikau, director of the University of Victoria's School of Indigenous Governance. She said migration is nothing new to Native Hawaiians since Polynesian voyagers initially settled in Hawaii and developed a unique culture. Hawaiians settled on the west coasts of the U.S. and Canada throughout the 18th and 19th centuries for many reasons. Today, economic factors motivate most moves to the mainland.

"The shift away from a plantation economy towards the tourist economy has created conditions that make it very difficult, if not impossible, for Hawaiians to remain in our homeland," Aikau said. "Hawaiians are committed towards genealogies (which) connect us to specific places in our homeland. We don't give that up just because we leave."

Aikau said there's a common misconception that "if Hawaiians leave, they don't want to be Hawaiian anymore." However, she said many scholars studying Hawaiian migration and diaspora disagree with this idea.

"Just because we traveled (away) doesn't mean we are ... any less connected or committed to our homeland," Aikau said.

Kahahawai and Akana stay connected to their Hawaiian roots with the many tastes from home - slightly sweet and spicy Portuguese sausage and savory Spam Musubi. Basking in their culture with each other and sharing it with curious teammates also helps them stay grounded in their identities.

"It's really nice when our teammates ask us about our culture," Kahahawai said. "The other day, one of my teammates asked me how Hawaii was illegally overthrown . That was something that really won my heart because they care about our culture, and they want to learn more."

Akana and Kahahawai felt more than happy to share with the team. They hosted a lū'au for the volleyball team when they visited O'ahu for a beach volleyball tournament in March. The team wove hakus, or head leis, danced to Hawaiian music and enjoyed local cuisine.

"Spam is looked down upon over here," Kahahawai said. "My parents were like, 'Oh, we're going to bring Spam Musubis.' I was like, 'Oh, I don't know about that.' And the girls loved it. I only had half of one Spam Musubi by the end."

Though Akana and Kahahawai went to high school together, they hardly saw each other because they lived on opposite sides of the island. Texas volleyball has brought them closer together, physically and emotionally. The program has also turned them from state to national champions. No matter how far from home, they always look back to their roots.

"Our coach (at Kamehameha) always told us to play for those who came before us and then play for those coming behind us," Akana said.

Just a few weeks ago, they watched their alma mater, an ocean away, compete for the state championship again. It was a late night, cheering on Kamehameha and reflecting on old memories. Because of the time difference, the 7 p.m. game started at 11 p.m.

Kamehameha secured the final set. Kahahawai celebrated while Akana snoozed on the couch. But Akana celebrated in her dreams, supporting her culture and the teammates who came after her.

"Being able to watch them play in that championship game was a full moment for us," Akana said.

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Texas volleyball's Keonilei Akana, Devin Kahahawai embrace Hawaiian culture an ocean away

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Keonilei Akana and Devin Kahahawai were barely teammates six years ago. They met for the first time at varsity volleyball tryouts at a school exclusively for Native Hawaiian students. Now, they're roommates an ocean away from the islands they continue to call home. They show such a strong connection that one could consider this pair...

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Documentary Theatre or Theatre Criticism

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Documentary Theatre or Theatre Criticism

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If I do end up working in the theatre industry I think I would most likely work in documentary theatre or as a theatre critic for a newspaper. In both ways, I'd be using my theatre and journalism skills. I think it would be fun to go find real stories and find ways to bring them to the stage accurately, compellingly, and in a timely manner. I also really enjoy watching theatre and often times have strong opinions about what I see. A career in either area would be ideal so I could keep both fields close to me.

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The Laramie Project is a masterclass in documentary theatre, and it played a key role in the research project I did on documentary theatre last semester.

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I really like journalism because it gives my creativity direction, kind of like bumpers on a bowling lane. You talk to sources, you tell their story and you don't stray away from it. But within those rules, there's an immense amount of room to play with language, form and perspective. I'm interested in trying to bring together theatre and journalism somehow in my future career. Long-form journalistic projects interest me particularly.

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Eli Saslow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who's worked for the Washington Post and the New York Times. His journalism brings life to the news, allowing his reader to truly understand the news from the people affected by it. This is some of the best journalism, in my opinion.

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A Jan. 6 Defendant Pleads His Case to the Son Who Turned Him In

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The Capitol attacks ruptured their mutual trust. In the weeks before Brian Mock’s sentencing, could he mend the divide with his son A.J.?

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Before starting college, my understanding and practice of journalism was limited to newspaper writing. My freshman year at UT, I started on my journalism degree. One of the first classes I took was "Digital Storytelling," which forced me to learn new journalistic storytelling methods. We practiced video and audio journalism, which forced me to stretch my brain as a storyteller. It's not just the words: what are the visuals? how about the soundscape? Through my studies of these techniques, I'm excited to expand my horizons journalistically. I'm also interested in how theatre artists can incorporate multimedia into their work. Productions of "Network" from Ivo Van Hove and the recent West End revival of "Sunset Boulevard" come to mind.

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This is one of the projects I made in Digital Storytelling. It's essentially a little brief like you'd hear on NPR. My professor, Robert Quigley, described audio journalism as "theatre for the mind." I definitely agree with him!

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Pickleball's Takeover of the University of Texas by aaron.sullivanx

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My mom was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and her grandmother (or great grandmother) was 100% Native Hawaiian. Growing up, my mom always took pride in her Hawaiian identity, and that definitely rubbed off on my siblings and me. But there aren't many Hawaiians that live in Texas, so as I got older, it was harder for me to stay connected to that part of my identity. I continue to want to learn more about my culture, but it's hard to truly dive in with busy schedules and an ocean's divide.

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The Merrie Monarch Festival happens every year in Hilo, Hawaii. It's a hula and Hawaiian arts festival to celebrate Hawaiian culture and King Kalakaua, the Merrie Monarch, who promoted his people and their culture.

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Another realm of artistic interest is Native Hawaiian arts, especially its theatre, dance and ritual. I would love to go to Hawaii to be able to really immerse myself in it. The University of Hawaii at Mānoa has a MFA program in Hawaiian Theatre, which piques my interest. I would love to see how one could incorporate Native Hawaiian artistic practices in the mainland arts industry and scene.

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This is an article about UH's Hawaiian theatre program and how its students write plays in Hawaiian. I'm hoping to learn some Hawaiian over the summer, and would love to get my hands on these manuscripts to aid my learning!

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Scene from the comedy "Ho'oilina," which means legacy and inheritance. | Photo: courtesy of Tammy Haili'ōpua Baker

The Hawaiian theater program is revitalizing the Indigenous culture on stage and garnering national recognition for its performances.

Thanks to the growing number of Hawaiian speakers and those interested in learning the language, the Theatre Department at UH Mānoa has been putting on hana keaka (plays) completely in Hawaiian for sold-out audiences.

The department established its Hawaiian theater program in 2014 under the direction of Tammy Haili'ōpua Baker.

"When I was a student at UH Mānoa, Kanaka Maoli artistic expression was not being represented in the Theatre Department," Baker says. "That was one of the primary motivators to create work that would speak to our community, our history and also utilize our language and our culture as a foundation for communicating the experiences of the Indigenous people of this land."

Resurgence of 'Ōlelo Hawai'i

Across the globe, Indigenous languages are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, lists 'Ōlelo Hawai'i as among those critically endangered, though the language and the number of fluent Hawaiian speakers have enjoyed a resurgence in the past few decades.

"These speakers are making a concerted effort to create pathways for more Hawaiian language to propagate across the community," says Baker.

Most of the hana keaka the Theatre Department stages are completely in 'Ōlelo Hawai'i, but some also incorporate Pidgin, though they make a point to not use English subtitles.

"For me, having it translated into English kind of defeats the purpose. If you make it easy for people to not have to do the work to understand it, people won't want to learn the language," says Ākea Kahikina, a graduate student who just earned his master's degree in the program.

That said, he believes those in the audience who don't speak Hawaiian can still appreciate the performances.

"You don't need to necessarily know the language to get it, which is something kind of magical. Think about opera, right? A lot of people who go to the opera won't understand the language being spoken, but they usually still get the gist of the story. It's a success when your actors and staging can tell the story without having to translate it," says Kahikina.

Hana Keaka Elements

In addition to the language, many other key elements of Hawaiian culture are incorporated into hana keaka, such as mele (songs), oli (prayers) and hula.

"All the traditional performance methods are integrated into hana keaka, which propels and enhances the story," says Kahikina. "It's also our way of trying to decolonize the theater space."

Ancient Hawaiians never relied on written records. Instead they used oral and visual storytelling, which is in part why rejuvenating hana keaka honors Hawaiian tradition and history.

"Mele, oli and even hula: All of those are history books ... that have been passed on down the line, and a platform like hana keaka is our history books being brought to life," says Keola Simpson, who earned his master in fine arts degree at UH Mānoa.

The main difference between traditional and contemporary Hawaiian theater is technology, Baker says.

"Moving into contemporary times, we have the opportunity to stage things with costumes and lights and all of the magic of modern theater. So that's what really makes contemporary hana keaka an evolved version of traditional Hawaiian theater," she says.

Winning Prestigious Awards

Despite only being in existence for eight years, the Hawaiian theater program has won numerous regional and national awards. Baker received the Medallion of Excellence from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the play "He Leo Aloha," written by master's of fine arts student Kaipulaumakaniolono Baker, received eight national and regional awards for the 2021-22 season.

"Lā'ieikawai" received regional recognition as a showcase production featured at the 2016 Region 8 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. "'Au'a 'Ia: Holding On" received national recognition as part of Safe Harbors Indigenous Collective's Reflections of Native Voices.

The program's latest production, " Hoʻoilina," which means legacy and inheritance, is a comedy written and directed by Kahikina. The dialogue is a mixture of Hawaiian, Pidgin and English.

"It's about a Hawaiian family. They are ready to read the will of their late matriarch who lived in Kāhala and had a lot of money. And right before they read her will, in comes this quirky Texas girl. She tells them, 'I'm here to see the late matriarch, I got invited' and then all these family secrets come out as they try to figure out who this outsider is. It's just a wacky, wacky story," says Kahikina.

Simpson expects "Ho'oilina" to be well received.

"I think it's the best production so far, which means we're evolving and continuing to get better. The talent level of the performers in that group is so impressive. We've gotten really lucky with some actors who have chosen to come home to pursue their master's degrees," says Simpson.

Learn more at manoa.hawaii.edu/hanakeaka.

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The Rise of Indigenous Theater in Hawai'i - Hawaii Business Magazine

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UH students and faculty are creating original plays in 'Olelo Hawai'i, and winning national awards.