Kumu Kahua Theatre, Honolulu's only theater company focusing primarily on new plays by Hawai''is playwrights, has received a grant of $50,000 from the Annenberg Foundation.

"Kumu Kahua Theatre (was) brought to the attention of the Annenberg Foundation by one of our board members, Marya Takamori-Prickett," said Scott Rogers, managing director of the 37 year-old theatre company, about how the group was linked to the foundation. "This is a huge grant for us."

The award also comes at a crucial crossroads of funding. "We just found out we weren't going to be receiving our previously awarded grant-in-aid from the state," said Rogers. "So it came at the perfect time."

Established in 1989 by Walter H. Annenberg, the Annenberg Foundation provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations in the United States and globally through its headquarters in Radnor, Pa. and offices in Los Angeles, Calif. Its major program areas are education and youth development; arts, culture and humanities; civic and community; health and human services; and animal services and the environment. It encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.

Over the last 15 years, the Annenberg Foundation has awarded more than 5,200 grants totaling more than $2.8 billion.

Kumu Kahua productions receive support from the State Foundation on Culture & the Arts with additional support from the Mayor's Office of Culture & Arts, the Hawai'i Community Foundation and local foundations, businesses and patrons.