Roberto Zucco at Palikū Theatre

An unsettling absurdist tragi-comedy played by WCC Theatre 260 students

Windward Community College
Contact:
Bonnie J Beatson, (808) 235-7374
Mktg & Public Rel Dir, Chancellor's Office
Taurie Kinoshita, 808-779-3456
Instructor/director, Humanities
Posted: Mar 1, 2016

Cynthia Sinclair, Benjamin Brown, Ui Goodhue and Punahele Valentine restrain a crazed Roberto Zucco
Cynthia Sinclair, Benjamin Brown, Ui Goodhue and Punahele Valentine restrain a crazed Roberto Zucco

Roberto is the proverbial boy next door, a serial killer with the face of an angel, a murderer without remorse. WCC Theatre 260 students will enact his bewildering blood-splattered tale--inspired by real events.  Directed by Taurie Kinoshita, Roberto Zucco plays at Palikū Theatre March 11 through March 20, offering Oʻahu audiences a rare glimpse at the work of critically-acclaimed contemporary European playwright Bernard-Marie Koltes.

Roberto Zucco show dates:

March 11 & 12 (Fri. and Sat.), 8:00 p.m. (Post-show talk with cast on Saturday, March 12) 

March 13 (Sun.), 4:00 p.m.

March 17 (Thurs.), 4:30 p.m.

March 17 – 19 (Thurs.– Sat.), 8:00 p.m.

March 20 (Sun.) 4:00 p.m.                                                                                                                

Tickets: $5 Students/Senior/Military; $10 General  

To Purchase Tickets: eTicketHawaii.com or call 235-7310 to charge by phone.

Due to adult language, situations and themes, this play is recommended for ages 18 and older. No children under 13 will be admitted. Running time is one hour and twenty minutes.

Roberto Zucco strives to be as transparent as glass—moving invisibly, unseen by the unwitting multitude. Imprisoned for murdering his father, he escapes to murder his mother (obliterating his past), then a policeman (annihilating the embodiment of societal rules), and finally a young adolescent man (destroying the image of himself.)  Never staged before in Hawaiʻi, Roberto Zucco is the final magnum opus of Bernard-Marie Koltes written just before his untimely death of complications from AIDS, in 1989.  Symbolism, motif and metaphor interweave with humor, a harrowing narrative, and dark, disturbing dramatic action.

What is the nature of humanity? Are all heroes merely criminals covered in blood?                                           
Is it only the forces of society preventing us from expressing our true barbaric nature?

Winner of the Prix du Jeune Talent (Young Talent prize), Bernard-Marie Koltes, takes an intensely pessimistic view of mankind in this cynical absurdist tragi-comedy loosely based on the life of serial killer Roberto Succo.

Roberto Zucco is directed by award-winning, 20+-year theatre veteran Taurie Kinoshita, who has staged critically acclaimed work in London and NYC, and features WCC’s Theatre 260 students—many acting for the first time onstage. A post-show discussion will be held March 12.                         

For more information about Roberto Zucco, contact Director Taurie Kinoshita at 779-3456 or taurie@hawaii.edu.

To learn more about Theatre 260 and other theatre classes offered at Windward Community College, contact Instructor Nicolas Logue at 236-9138, logue@hawaii.edu or go online to windward.hawaii.edu.

For more information about Palikū Theatre, please visit paliku.com.