The Pahala Theater of Abuse

Saturday Night At The Pahala Theater by Lois-Ann Yamanka took me completely off guard. The pretty cover art, imagery of going to the movies, and being told it consisted of short poems had me thinking I was in for a pleasant read. How wrong I was! The writing style of Yamanka is like nothing I’ve experienced before. I was left feeling physically abused and emotionally traumatized after each story. However, I completely commend Yamanka for creating poetry that goes deeper than the light romanticized images that I, personally, associate with many poems. For each part of the poetic novella, Yamanka is able to pull the reader into a different mindset and allows us to experience the world through various lenses. The insight forms a bond between the reader and the character. This connection is why I felt so abused after each reading. With every horrific experience, I was left feeling like a victim to the same experiences. Reading Kala’s excerpts about the complete lack of parental protection, rape, abuse, and male domination, I wanted to scream for help. After reading Tita’s verbal abuse to the third party character, I felt the pain of her words as if they were said directly to me. Reading into Part Two of the novel left me feeling so utterly hopeless. “Tongues” and “Parts” were horrific tales of innocence lost and a level of hostility beyond anything I’ve encountered. I began questioning where the source of such tales could come from. Surely the sweet looking woman in the “About The Author” section is not the same person to write such things!

And then Part Three/Four happened. Even though Part Three and Four were not completely without their malicious twists and turns, I found that some of the innocence I had been grasping for was found in these sections. Yamanka develops these parts to bring back some of the humanity lost in the previous parts. The development of Bernie and the third party character’s relationship and WillyJoe and Lucy’s relationship demonstrates how some of the characters learned to tackle the abusive world Yamanaka has portrayed. With these relationships, Yamanka was able to offer as close to a happy ending as she was ever going to give. 

 The Pahala Theater, Pahala, Hawaii: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

-Vanessa Arredondo