JoyMobile, a partner project of Artists for Community Transformation, Intl., a 501(c)3 organization, seeks to bring joy to the people of Hawaiʻi following the isolation and hardship of the Covid-19 pandemic. The actual JoyMobile is a 21ʻ school bus converted into a mobile performance vehicle that will serve as a backdrop for short performances of celebration, music, and laughter that promote community building.

Led and advised by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Theatre for Young Audiences Program Director, Mark Branner, masters students and undergraduate students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Theatre and Dance will create a short performance built to inspire joy in audience members of all ages, ethnicities, and language backgrounds. To promote accessibility and safe social distancing, the performance will bring joy to various outdoor spaces on Oʻahu, and will arrive and be performed from and around the JoyMobile.

While the performance has yet to be created by Mark Branner and five graduate students, highlights of the JoyMobile may include moments of clowning (with minimal makeup, think Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton), two people passing juggling clubs, live music, balloons, and a giant 8 foot dress that requires all the performers to dress a diva-like clown in.

The JoyMobile has already opened partnerships with farmers markets around the island, and is building more throughout the summer with other partners in need. Rehearsals to build the show begin August of 2021 with its first performance on Labor Day, September 6 of the same year. While we are aiming to hold at least 9 performances by the end of the year, we are seeking additional funding to extend the performances into 2022 and reach other locations around the island that we currently cannot afford to reach. We seek to offer Joy at no cost to our partners without taking advantage of the hard work of our creative team.

Help us to spread joy around Oʻahu! Aloha!