Kumu Kahua Theatre kicks off its 56th season with an unknown story. The downtown theater is known for elevating Hawaiʻi stories. And “The Queen’s Will” opened the season.
The Conversation spoke to playwright Sean T.C. O'Malley about the storyline. He is known for a trilogy about Robert Wilcox, Hawaiʻi's first delegate to Congress.
But “The Queen’s Will” focuses on the drama swirling around his wife, who was accused of falsifying Liliʻuokalani's will and stood trial for fraud.
O'Malley said Queen Liliʻuokalani did have a will in 1909 that went through several legal contests, but at the time of death in 1917, another will surfaced.
“There were people who signed documents about what the will was, and then they recanted their testimony, and eventually went to trial, resulting in the trial of the century, which was taking Princess Theresa to trial for conspiracy and forgery,” he said.
He said that it was originally a family member of Theresa and Robert who shared this story with him.
Initially, O'Malley wasn’t too drawn to the story, but after reading hundreds of articles, he became more interested.
“This is not a courtroom drama play that I've written,” he explained. “Maybe to think of this more as a true crime play, that this is about the mystery of what happened, about who was changing their story? Who was lying? Who was getting bribed. … And then in Act 2, it's a little bit more philosophy about what does it mean? Who gets to tell the stories? How do things work?”
The 56th season of Kumu Kahua Theatre kicked off on Aug. 20; the play runs through Sept. 20.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 27, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
