FESTIVAL ‘ 90 : STAGE REVIEWS : ‘Ka’iulani’ Depicts Lost Hawaiian Era : OPEN FESTIVAL

Most of us have forgotten, if we ever knew, that Hawaii was a monarchy less than 100 years ago, with a beautiful princess named Ka’iulani who died young and sad after her islands were swallowed by the United States.

Kumu Kahua (which means “new stage” in Hawaiian) is our newest state’s only theater company that produces plays indigenous to Hawaii. “Ka’iulani: A Cantata for the Theatre,” at the Inner City Cultural Center, is a beguiling, almost Chekhovian, late 19th-Century period piece about the grace and turmoil of the fabled, melancholy Ka’iulani.

Director Dennis Carroll blends poetic drama, choral ensembles, Hawaiian dances and social and political trauma. The production is no mere theatrical luau for the armchair traveler. It dramatizes the complex case of a princess who was “the daughter of a double race” (Hawaiian and Scottish), in the words of Ka’iulani’s friend, Robert Louis Stevenson (briefly dramatized here).

The collaborative work of four company writers, the show, en route home from appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, floats in a swirl of prim Victorian dresses from actresses who alternate portraying stages of Ka’iulani’s short life (1875-1899).

An artful feature is long wooden poles, which the players weave into a tapestry of dramatic gestures. At 1308 S. New Hampshire Ave., concludes Wednesday and Friday,8 p.m. $10. (213) 466-1767 or (213) 387-1161.