Bully Survivor

Pono Players, Photo courtesy of HCT Pono Players

Pono Players, the educational outreach arm of Hawai’i Children’s Theatre, will hold a public performance of Bully Survivor on Tuesday, May 22, at 6 p.m. at Island School. Admission is free.

Bully Survivor is an original production created by its young cast members along with Director Ed Eaton and Manager Jessica Silver.

The production consists of two parts. The first is a short, involving play in which we see the effects of bullying on a young middle school girl. The second part is an interactive role-playing workshop with a fun game show theme, in which audience members will learn skills to help end bullying, then have a chance to try them

out by role-playing with the actors on stage.

The target audience for Bully Survivor is students in grades four to six, although it is appropriate for all ages. The cast members range in age from sixth grade to young adult, with the majority being middle schoolers themselves. They include returning Pono Players Savanah Frisk, Raina Silver, and Beorn Chantara, along with new members Sydney Agudong, Sterling Bird, Bailey Hutton, Kaycee Lu, Sara Morimoto, Makenna Olson, Jessica Palmer, and Emily Threlkeld.

The production was made possible by a grant from the Annie Sinclair Knudsen Trust. The aim of Bully Survivor is to raise awareness about bullying, and to give audience members some ideas for what each of them can do to help end it. This is a lesson for all time and in these times there is way too much bullying.