Nothing Without a Company (NWaC) and Rishi Productions are proud to announce the World Premiere film screening of Not One Batu: The Film Experience. This is a film version of NWaC’s 2018 theatre production, Not One Batu, written by its Artistic Director Hannah Ii-Epstein, centering around the meth epidemic in Hawaiʻi and its impact on families over generations. Funds raised at the film experience will go toward the final installment of Ii-Epstein’s State of Highwaiʻi Drug Plays, a trilogy of one-act plays that examines the impact of substance use on families, communities, and survival in Hawaiʻi, with the other two installments being Pakalolo Sweet and Aloha Fry-day. The film will run for one night only on Tuesday, November 18th, from 7:00 PM -10:00 PM, at Facets Film Forum, 1517 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL. The event will start with a VIP hour Meet & Greet, 7:00 PM -8:00 PM featuring the theatrical and film artists and local Hawaiʻi style musubi (provided by Aloha Eats and Kanin); the film will begin at 8 PM followed by a Q&A discussion with the creatives. Ticket prices range from $30 (GA) to $50.00 (VIP), available at NothingWithoutaCompany.org.
Marie Tredway (Honey Girl), Gloria Alvarez (Sherri), Leleaʻe Kahalepuna-Wong (Ma)
History of Not One Batu:
In 2018, Nothing Without a Company, in association with Aloha Center Chicago and the Chicago Park District produced Not One Batu, directed by Rachel Slavick. The film experience was directed by Producing Director Anna Rose Ii-Epstein. This was the first full theatre production in NWaC’s history to be filmed. Not One Batu in 2018 was Reader Recommended and Jeff Recommended. Featured interviews with Hannah Ii-Epstein on WBEZ Chicago and in American Theatre. The trailer for the 2018 play production is available at this link: https://youtu.be/Nj9Q06XZB48?si=H1WYELGZXqzYi2wU
Synopsis:
Meet Honey Girl: a former meth user, now an expert drug dealer. At Haleʻiwa beach park one morning, Honey Girl meets with customers and friends, rival dealers, and her addict mother. Amusing, intimate and occasionally disturbing, Not One Batu follows Honey Girl’s struggle to stay clean in a world turned upside down by meth. This film contains strong language, physical violence, and drug use.
Q&A Speakers:
Marie Tredway (Actor: Honey Girl), Scott Hanada (Actor: Uncle Makana), Hannah Ii-Epstein (Writer), Anna Rose Ii-Epstein (Film Director), and Rachel Slavick (Play Director). The Q&A is led by Kevin Sparrow (NWaC Literary Manager).
Hawaiian Pidgin English:
Not One Batu is mostly in Pidgin (with a capital P), the common way of referring to what linguists call Hawaiʻi Creole, the creole language that emerged on sugar plantations in Hawai‘i during the middle to late 19th and early 20th centuries***. It is a mix of the languages spoken by Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Rican and other workers who toiled in the state’s sugar plantations****. In November 2015, Hawaiian Pidgin English was listed as the official language of the state of Hawaiʻi. To non-Pidgin speakers, it may sound like slang. For example, "dat" means “that” and "faddah" means “father” or “dad”*****.
Cast Credits:
Marie Tredway (Honey Girl), Leleaʻe Kahalepuna-Wong (Ma), Scott Hanada (Uncle Makana), Gloria Alvarez (Sherri), Heather Jencks (Max), Bobby Wilhelmson (Jason), Tony Rossi (Toully), Ian Voltaire Deanes (Braddah).
Production Team Credits:
Hannah Ii-Epstein (Writer), Rachel Slavick (Play Director), Savannah Cannistraro (Cinematographer), Anna Rose Ii-Epstein (Producer/Film Director), Raphael Goldberg (Production Manager), Sandeep Pamulapati (Editor), Lanialoha Lee (Cultural Specialist/Music Artist), Mark Bracken (Set and Light Designer), Matt Collera (Sound Recording), Alan Contreras (Sound Mix/Sound Master), Gabriel Garavaglia (Color Correction), Whitney Masters (Costume Designer), Jaq Seifert (Fight Choreographer), Almanya Narula (Assistant Fight Choreographer), Val Gerard Garcia Jr. (Dramaturge/Play Box Office), Christopher Sylvie (Production Assistant/Stage Manager), Jake Fruend (Graphic Designer/Play Poster Designer), and Cale Manning (Indiegogo Video).
Artist Bios
Hannah Ii-Epstein (she/her) is a Native Hawaiian writer and award-winning dramatist from the North Shore of Oʻahu. Her work centers on Native Hawaiian identity and LGBTQIA+ experiences, blending tradition with contemporary storytelling to create evocative narratives. She holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University and serves as Artistic Director of Nothing Without a Company.
Hannah is the founder of BearCat Productions, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and a 50th season writer at Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu. An active member of Tree Moss Hawaiʻi and the Ke Aliʻi Victoria Kaʻiulani Hawaiian Civic Club, she also works as a freelance dramaturge and cultural specialist, supporting Native Hawaiian storytelling across disciplines. Currently, she is part of the inaugural cohort of the Native Hawaiian Storytelling Program, an innovative mentorship and development initiative nurturing and amplifying Native Hawaiian voices.
Not One Batu was the 2016 winner of 6 Po’okela Awards, including Overall Play Guest Artist (Non-Hawaiʻi Resident) (recipient Hannah Ii-Epstein), Featured Female in a Play (recipient Leleaʻe Kahalepuna-Wong), and Leading Female in a Play (recipient Danielle Zalopany).
Previous interviews about Not One Batu in 2016 :
Hannah Ii-Epstein and Danielle Zalopany; Honolulu Public Radio (HPR); Batu: The Wound That Won’t Heal
Hannah Ii-Epstein; HPR and Civil Beat; Hawaiʻi's New Ice Age: Crystal Meth in the Islands
Marie Tredway (she/her) is a SAG-AFTRA actor/theater director. Notable credits: Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, APT, and Milwaukee Chamber Theater. Marie recurs as Nurse Trinidad “Trini”Campos in NBC’s One Chicago universe. She is proud to represent her heritage as one of the rare Filipino characters on television. She is repped by DDO Artists Agency & Infin8 Artists. She is a passionate artist advocate for marginalized voices.
* “Batu” is Hawaiian Pidgin for methamphetamine.
** “Talk story” means to chit-chat or gossip.
*** "Talking Story about Pidgin," University of Hawai'i
http://sls.hawaii.edu/pidgin/whatIsPidgin.php
**** "Data Inspires Pride for Pidgin, a Hawaii Language," Star Advertiser
***** Kerry Chan Laddaran, "Pidgin English Now An Official Language of Hawaii," CNN https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/12/living/pidgin-english-hawaii/index.html
Nothing Without a Company is planting theatre around Chicago by telling the stories of historically marginalized voices through immersive and site-specific theatre in reclaimed environments.
Website: www.nothingwithoutacompany.org
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2018 Photo Credit: Marie Tredway as Honey Girl in a publicity image for Not One Batu 2018. Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis
2018 Photo Credit: (L to R) Marie Tredway as Honey Girl, Tony Rossi as Toully, and Lelea'e Kahalepuna-Wong as Ma in a publicity image for Not One Batu 2018. Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis
Ian Voltaire Deanes (Braddah), Marie Tredway (Honey Girl) (left to right)
Marie Tredway (Honey Girl), Heather Jencks (Max) (left to right)