Letter From The Editor
Last weekend, I was invited to watch a run-through of playwright Susan Soon He Stanton’s new play, #IAmBadAtThis, at Kumu Kahua Theatre. (OK, Susan said I could hang around for a while after we finished our interview; she didn’t exactly say I could stay for the whole thing, but I couldn’t tear myself away once it got started.)
The play follows a young woman, Emily, as she tries to navigate adult life and, well, largely fails. Instead of moving forward, she’s stuck in an extended adolescence, attempting to figure out what she wants in life, yet not really doing much to get there.
As I sat there, I found myself feeling a reluctant sense of kinship with Emily. I related to her deeply, yet she wasn’t always a character that you want to identify with. There were times that I felt like I was watching snippets of my own life. (I mean, Emily is a 29-year-old aspiring journalist who returns home to Hawaii after spending some years away — those basically are the CliffsNotes to my own life.) I think a lot of people will have the same feeling. The things that #IAm-BadAtThis explores are the big questions that we all face in life, like who do we want to be and what makes us happy (as well as other, lighter questions such as did I sound dumb leaving that voicemail for the boy I like, to which the answer is probably always yes). Seriously, go see it.
I got to talk with Stanton about the play, her inspiration, and the importance of coming home. See the story here.
We are also thrilled to announce that Metro won first place in the category of Non-daily Newspaper Excellence and second place for Excellence in Cover Design at Hawaii Publishers Association Pa‘i Awards for 2015. I’d like to thank our wonderful staff of writers, designers and photographers, as well as our columnists and everyone who has contributed to the paper. It really would not have been possible without all of you.
But perhaps most importantly, I want to thank everyone we’ve worked with who has allowed us to share their stories. We look forward to telling more.
