Building Permit (C) (D)

The story about the Hawaii community theater known as TAG-The Actors’ Group and their six-year journey of attempting, after years of operating unofficially under the radar, to pass the specifications of the state building code as administered by the city’s Department of Planning & Permitting, also known as the DPP. Follow the exploits of TAG’s founder and president, Eric Nemoto, who because he finally wants to do the right thing, risks the prospect of the city shutting the theater down by self-reporting that TAG had never been certified before. But despite his noble intentions, what will be in store for him – like all the other peons who have to suffer the slog of bureaucratic quicksand of first obtaining a building permit in order to pursue renovation, and then pass inspection after all is finally done – will be an “Odyssey” that rivals what Homer wrote. Loosely based on the true account of TAG’s attempt to finally gain formal approval as a theater by the City and County of Honolulu, “Building Permit,” is a riotous comedy about the lunacy of the permitting process, that is also a social commentary about the fine line separating “Aloha” from what constitutes a bribe. Writer: Eric Nemoto. Pages: 120.