Lisa Matsumoto

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Lisa Matsumoto (died 14 December 2007) was a playwright and children's author in Hawaii.[1] Her use of Hawaiian Pidgin in her works propelled her to her status as one of the state's most popular resident playwrights.[2]

Matsumoto began writing plays while studying drama and theater at the University of Hawaii in the late 1980s, taking Western fairy tales and rewriting them in Pidgin, while also changing their plots in unexpected ways.[2] Her first play, "Bye Bye Hanabata Days", was written as a class assignment; her next play, "Once Upon One Time", began a series of pidgin fairy tale plays which would include sequels "Once Upon One Noddah Time" and "Unce Upon One Kapakahi Time", as well as "Happily Eva Afta" and "On Dragonfly Wings".[3] However, she began to move beyond this formula with "The Princess and the Iso Peanut", first performed at the Diamond Head Theatre in July 1999. "The Princess and the Iso Peanut", based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea", was her first not to include some of her stock characters such as Da Mean Mongoose, which she had previously used to generate "simple ethnic comedy".[2] She received numerous awards for her work, including four Po’okela Awards from the Hawai'i State Theatre Council, and a fellowship from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.[4]

Matsumoto was driving her 1997 Toyota Camry at about 3:32 AM on 14 December on Interstate H-1 the wrong way on the Waianae-bound side of the highway when she collided head-on with a Toyota Corolla travelling in the other direction. She was taken to The Queen's Medical Center, where she was later declared dead; her autopsy found that she had been intoxicated at the time of the crash.[5] Her relatives stated through a family friend that her funeral would be held in 2008.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cataluna, Lee. "Death of Hawaii playwright numbing", The Honolulu Advertiser, 2007-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. 
  2. ^ a b c Berger, John. "'Iso Peanut' goes beyond pidgin formula", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1999-07-12. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. 
  3. ^ Berger, John. "Reunion in pidgin fairyland", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2002-07-26. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. 
  4. ^ "State group awards 7 art fellowships", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2002-07-08. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. 
  5. ^ "Playwright Matsumoto was drunk, autopsy finds", Honolulu Star Bulletin, 2007-12-17. Retrieved on 2007-12-17. 
  6. ^ "Lisa Matsumoto services will be in 2008", The Honolulu Advertiser, 2007-12-17. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.