Press Release: The Staircase

SOUTH COAST REPERTORY INTRODUCES A BOLD NEW VOICE WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE STAIRCASE BY NOA GARDNER

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COSTA MESA, Calif. (Apr. 10, 2025)—Keeping with its commitment to nurturing rising playwrights in the American theatre, South Coast Repertory (Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Suzanne Appel) is thrilled to bring the singularly unique voice of Hawaiian playwright Noa Gardner to theatregoers with the world premiere of The Staircase. Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, The Staircase runs April 27-May 18 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

An SCR commission, The Staircase is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. It is Gardner’s first professional production and was a featured reading at the 2023 Pacific Playwrights Festival, where audiences experienced a rich mix of English, Hawaiian and Hawaiian Creole (i.e. pidgin)—along with drumming and traditional chants, or oli—as part of the story.

“Every now and then, a play makes its way into our book club and immediately, we all agree we must invest in it and support a process for it to find a production. The Staircase is such a play,” Ivers said. “The Staircase is on stage because it’s a shining example of the power of new work, written with extraordinary acumen. It’s been a gift to learn and engage with Hawaii, inspired by playwright Noa Gardner, his culture and the richness of this compelling play.”

The Play

Mother and Son spend their evenings playing cards and retelling stories of Hawaiian legend. Better those than their own, which lurk below the surface. When Son’s former sweetheart resurfaces, both he and Mother must choose how they will embrace the future. A mysterious tale about holding on, letting go and the curious force that pulls us back home.

Gardner credits Tennessee Williams’ one-act play, I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow, as an inspiration for The Staircase. His resonant storytelling features Native Hawaiian myths told by the two main characters throughout the play. They complement the play’s engaging and thoughtful parable of love, obligation and family lore.

“Playwriting is a Western model of storytelling and for Hawaiians, we’re an oral culture,” he said. “A lot of our stories were told through chanting, body movements, mnemonic devices. That is how they kept those stories. They kept it in body as opposed to writing it down. There’s not a lot of Hawaiian playwrights, because we have our own way of storytelling. I gravitated to playwriting because I’m aware I’m of both worlds.

“There is a way to flawlessly blend the two. That’s what Hawaiian people have always done: take what they have and blend it with Western material to create something new. I’m hoping to break new ground.”

Appel said, “Our audiences can expect a play that feels simultaneously classic and modern – a play mythic in style, rich with lyricism and supernatural forces. It explores the relationship between native Hawaiians and mainland American culture with an authentic depth and nuance. We invite audiences to journey with a Hawaiian family into their romanticized past and eventually toward an inescapable choice between leaving and staying.”

The Playwright

A native Hawaiian and a graduate of Loyola Marymount and USC, Gardner discovered playwriting in his final year at Loyola Marymount and gravitated to it because of the immediacy of the artistic impact on audiences. Gardner followed that passion, entering USC’s MFA Dramatic Writing program, where he studied under Luis Alfaro, Paula Cizmar, Velina Hasu Houston, Oliver Mayer and Boni Alvarez. They instilled in Gardner the willingness to lose himself in the writing process, write freely and use his talented voice to bring out the lives of the Hawaiian people through culture, language, song and myth.

The Director

Known for her adroit direction of world premieres such as Wish You Were Here by Sanaz Toossi (Playwrights Horizons), Danny Tejera’s Toros (Second Stage), Animal by Clare Lizzimore (Atlantic Theater and Studio Theatre), Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie (Audible at Minetta Lane), Anna Ziegler’s The Last Match (The Old Globe and Roundabout Theatre) and Bethany by Laura Marks (Women’s Project Theater), Upchurch returns to SCR for the first time since she helmed another world premiere—the 2015 production of Melissa Ross’ Of Good Stock.

Upchurch’s other Off-Broadway credits include Simon Stephens’ Harper Regan and Bluebird (Atlantic Theater Company) and Stay by Lucy Thurber (Rattlestick Theater). Her direction of As You Like It that toured to the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C.—one of numerous regional theatre credits—earned her the International Falstaff Award for Best Production. Upchurch has developed new work at NY Stage & Film, Page 73 Productions and New Dramatists, among others.

“I was thrilled to be able to join with Noa in figuring out how to put this play on the stage,” she said. “It’s such gorgeous writing and so poetic, moving and intimate. It’s a beautiful challenge, putting this story on, that is so detailed and specific to a play, but one that breaks away into a universality that is believable.”

The Cast

The Staircase features Ben Cain (Father), Nara Cardenas (Sweetheart), Wil Kahele (Son), Ehulani Hope Kāne (Mother) and Kainui Blaze Whiting (Musician).

SCR traveled to Hawaii to audition and cast well-respected Hawaiian actors who are recognized throughout Hawaii for their theatre, film and television work.

Cain (@iambencain) makes his SCR debut after participating in readings and workshops for The Staircase. Theatre: A Raisin in the Sun (A Noise Within), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Mark Taper Forum), King Hedley II (August Wilson African American Cultural Center) and The Exonerated (The Actors’ Gang). Film and Television: “FBI: Most Wanted” and “American Rust,” among others.

Cardenas makes her SCR debut after playing numerous roles in her native Hawaii at Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Theatre includes: Wahineomao in the world premiere of The Epic Tale of Hiitaka (WitzEnd Produtions). Voice: Lois Ann Yamanaka’s Heads by Harry (Audible).

Kahele (@baddasfadda) brings a rich presence in Hawaiian theatre and film to his SCR debut, starting with local television commercials and independent films before acting and directing at Diamond Head Theatre, Manoa Valley Theatre and Kumu Kahua Theatre.

Hope Kāne (@ehumana) brings more than 50 years of experience in the performing arts to her SCR debut. Theatre: Ulalena on Maui and The Lili’u Project (Leeward Community College) and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Film: Mauka to Makai, Hawaiian Soul and The Shimmering. Additional voice and film: PBS Kids, Kumau Productions, Quazifilms and Disney. She has taught Theatre Arts for more than a decade at the University of Hawaii’s Molokai campus.

An alum of the SCR Youth Theatre Conservatory, Whiting returns to SCR for the first time since appearing in SCR’s 2011 Summer Players production of Into the Woods and its 2010 production of A Christmas Carol. Television: the Emmy Award-winning It’s Your 50^th Christmas, Charlie Brown.

The Creative Team

The design and creative team includes Rachel Hauck (Tony Award winner for Hadestown), scenic design; Sara Ryung Clement (Fake It Until You Make It; Cambodian Rock Band at SCR) costume design; Josh Epstein (Galilee, 34 and M. Butterfly, both at SCR), lighting design, and Noel Nichols, Uptown Works (avaaz and You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, both at SCR), sound design. Mehanaokala Hind is the dramaturg, Joanne DeNaut, CSA is the casting director, Maisie Chan is the production manager and Darlene Miyakawa is the production stage manager.

The Staircase received generous support from Lead Honorary Producers Harmon and Lea Kong, and Samuel and Tammy Tang. The Playwrights Circle serve as Honorary Producers. It is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets are now on sale and range in price from $35 to $114, with additional discounts available for educators, seniors and students. Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555. More information is available at www.scr.org.