O’ahu Cemetery Pūpū Theatre: June 11-13 & 18-20
Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives and co-sponsor Oʻahu Cemetery Association are happy to welcome you to the 15th Anniversary season of Oʻahu Cemetery Pūpū Theatre! For 15 years we have partnered to bring history to life by using primary source materials in the Hawaiian Mission Houses Archives and beyond, to share the lives of people who created Hawaiʻi’s history, including many who are buried at Oʻahu Cemetery. As evening falls, skilled performers portray Dr. Iga Mōri, James Arthur Rath, Maria Jane Chamberlain Forbes, Emily Whitney Alexander Baldwin, and Lucy Kaiaka Ward – each one a vital thread in the enduring tapestry of Hawaiʻi’s social history.
One of Honolulu’s most distinctive and beloved living history events will be available for two long weekends in June 2026. Performances this year honor five remarkable individuals whose lives of service, healing, and advocacy helped shape the islands we know today.
June 11, 12, 13 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
June 18, 19, 20 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Event Details
- 5:00 p.m. — Join us at the chapel lanai; enjoy drinks and a bento as the sun sets over Nuʻuanu
- 6:00 p.m. — Performances begin promptly!
Get your tickets today, before we sell out! Book online now!
Your $60 ticket includes a bento (choice of fish, meat, or vegetarian — selected at checkout) plus one drink ticket. Additional drinks — wine, beer, soft drinks, and water — are cash only. Please plan accordingly.
Location: Oʻahu Cemetery | 2162 Nuʻuanu Avenue, Honolulu
WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
The history of Hawaiʻi is not only a story of kings and commerce — it is equally a story of those who showed up for their neighbors. The individuals honored in Caring for Our Community represent the doctors, organizers, and advocates who quietly transformed the social landscape of the islands, building institutions and networks of care that generations of Hawaiʻi’s people have relied upon ever since.
“The people we honor this year didn’t wait for someone else to solve the problems in front of them. Dr. Mōri built a hospital for a community shut out of care. Lucy Ward walked the streets of Honolulu with a badge and a pistol to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. James Rath arrived in a neighborhood still smoldering from fire and chose to stay — and to build. These aren’t distant historical figures. They are the architects of the institutions and networks of care that Hawaiʻi still relies on today. Oʻahu Cemetery Pūpū Theatre exists so those stories are told — and so we recognize ourselves in them.” — Mike Smola, Director of Education, Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives
FEATURED PORTRAYALS
Dr. Iga Mōri (1864–1951): A pioneering Issei physician born in northern Honshū, Dr. Mōri completed his education at the Imperial Naval Medical School and Cooper Union Medical College (now Stanford University Medical School). He was a founding doctor and first medical director of the Japanese Charity Hospital — now Kuakini Medical Center — established in the aftermath of the Bubonic plague outbreak and Chinatown Fire of 1900. He oversaw the hospital’s growth into the second largest medical facility in the Territory of Hawaiʻi, and was the first Japanese physician granted honorary membership in the Honolulu County Medical Society. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he and his family were arrested; his son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons were interned in New Mexico and Texas during WWII. Portrayed by Shiro Kawai.
James Arthur Rath (1870–1927): Born in Bengal, India, Rath came to Pālama in Honolulu in 1905 with his wife Ragna following the 1900 Chinatown fire, and became the founding head social worker at Pālama Settlement. He built a wide range of programs addressing healthcare, public health nursing, recreation, nutrition, affordable housing, English language instruction, and employment. He was also instrumental in Honolulu’s pure-milk movement, exposing adulteration by dairy companies and the suppression of bacterial diseases linked to raw milk consumption. Pālama Settlement continues to serve the community today. Portrayed by Alan Shepard.
Maria Jane Chamberlain Forbes (1832–1909): Born in Honolulu to missionaries Levi and Maria Chamberlain, she was the first child born in the 1831 Chamberlain House at Hawaiian Mission Houses — the very site where HMH stands today. Educated at Punahou and Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, she married Rev. Anderson O. Forbes. Following her husband’s death, she was appointed manager of the Lunalilo Home for Aged Hawaiians in 1889, a role she held for 13 years. Lunalilo Home continues to serve the community today at its campus in Hawaiʻi Kai. Portrayed by Karen Valasek.
Emily Whitney Alexander Baldwin (1846–1943): Born at Lahainaluna, Maui to Rev. William P. Alexander and Mary Ann McKinney Alexander, she married Henry Perrine Baldwin and together they became transformative philanthropists on Maui. They founded the Fred C. Baldwin Memorial Home to provide housing for elderly Hawaiian and white men, named in memory of their son who died unexpectedly at age 24. They also founded the Baldwin Home for Boys and Helpless Men at Kalawao to care for male leprosy patients — a facility that grew under the stewardship of Brother Joseph Dutton to more than 50 buildings by the 1930s. Portrayed by Eden-Lee Murray.
Lucy Kaiaka Ward (1874–1954): One of the celebrated seven Ward sisters, Lucy grew up at “Old Plantation” on the site of what is now the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. A major force in founding and developing the Hawaiian Humane Society, she became a Humane Agent in 1913 — making her a law enforcement officer. Armed with a whip, a pistol, and a badge, she spent years protecting the welfare of children and animals across Honolulu. The Humane Society served as Child Protective Services in the Territory of Hawaiʻi until 1935, and its first building was constructed on land donated by her family. Portrayed by Amy K. Sullivan.