“Shipwreck’d on the Body Beautiful, or the Tats Dancing Man” is the realization of a quest that began 15 years ago — when local playwright Daniel A. Kelin II first came across the autobiography of James F. O’Connell, a shipwrecked Irishman who washed up on the shores of Pohnpei in the late 1820s.

O’Connell’s story was sensational, as told in his own memoir: Upon encountering the Micronesian people of Pohnpei, he first charmed them by dancing Irish jigs.

Within days, he was brought into a village hut and tattoed extensively — an act that made the sailor “fully human” to the natives, according to author Juniper Ellis in her 2008 book, “Tattooing the World.”

Kelin, a performer who has also sought to find acceptance in the Pacific, felt a kinship with O’Connell, and has developed the sailor’s story into a one-man show.

AFTER FIVE years in Pohnpei, the castaway O’Connell found his way to America. There he found a life’s calling in performance, appearing with P.T. Barnum and a rival circus produced by pioneer Dan Rice.

O’Connell became “the first public tattoo figure in the United States,” Kelin said, as folks unabashedly gawked at his markings.

His tattoos were the subject of much frenzy, with some commentators warning that a woman who looked at O’Connell would bear babies covered in Pohnpeian patterns, writes Steve Moyer in “A Marked Man,” a 2014 article on O’Connell published by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Yet O’Connell didn’t rely on freak-show sensationalism, unlike later tattooed acts. A natural entertainer, he instead told stories, sang, danced and used his markings to incite people to imagine the goings-on among exotic peoples in distant lands.

The Irishman fully dedicated himself to his circus persona, performing for nearly 25 years. A consummate showman, his stories were what Kelin calls “theatricalized truth.”

For performance value, he may have exaggerated his tales, but his story is not fabricated. His tattoos have been authenticated by anthropologists, and newspaper clippings of the time confirm the extent of his full-body inking.

“He seems to have become a more enlightened person because of his unexpected time in Pohnpei,” Kelin said. “He faced truths about humanity that I don’t think he would have come to understand otherwise. …

“The tattoos helped bring people in to his shows, but his stories offered greater understanding of a fascinating world.”

DURING HIS years on the island, O’Connell often struggled to understand the people of Pohnpei — and they him. That’s a theme “Shipwreck’d” and Kelin explore.

In addition to serving as a manager of Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Kelin has been director of drama education with HTY since 1987. He travels regularly, teaching theater arts, and has shared stories with people of many cultures, including communities in India, Guam, American Samoa — and Pohnpei.

Over the years, Kelin kept O’Connell’s story at the back of his mind, and began seriously formulating a script for “Shipwreck’d” six years ago.

“Studying O’Connell’s life, the time period, dance, language, tattoos, songs, etc. was a thrill,” said Kelin.

He brought a rough draft of “Shipwreck’d” to his good friend Harry Wong III, Kumu Kahua Theatre’s artistic director, in 2016. Wong liked what he saw and encouraged Kelin to polish the piece.

Over the past three years, Kelin worked on the script while performing readings around the world. In the play, Kelin portrays several characters in addition to the sailor

“Shipwreck’d” received its most favorable reactions in Pohnpei. Based on feedback there, Kelin fine-tuned the script further. He incorporated culture and customs he encountered — including the serving of sakau (kava), and presentation by a chief of a necklace to be worn on ritual occasions.

Writing and developing the play proved a process of self- and cross-cultural discovery for Kelin, as he borrowed from his own experiences and O’Connell’s story.

The play is an entertainment, and also confronts viewers with important contemporary issues, Wong observed.

“The play is about a performer who’s using the exotic nature of the Pacific and its effect on him to make money,” the director said. “The play also asks questions about cultural appropriation. About who is a savage, and who isn’t.”

“That being said,” Wong adds, “seeing an attitude on stage you haven’t experienced before is pleasurable.

“To be exposed to or confronted with an idea you weren’t aware of? That should have a feeling of pleasure about it, deep down.”

THE KUMU Kahua Theatre production invites viewers to transport themselves and become one of O’Connell’s 19th-century audiences.

The tantalizing title,“Shipwreck’d on the Body Beautiful, or the Tats Dancing Man,” harkens to a time when a carnival barker would tease a public audience’s imagination and interest in the unusual.

“Shipwreck’d” opens with O’Connell toward the end of his career, looking back on his life. He reflects on his encounters, and grows to grasp the beauty inherent in connecting with people from whom he differed greatly.

“I like that this story doesn’t fall into the trope of the outsider coming in to ‘civilize’ another people, but how both learn from each other in unexpected, and occasionally humorous, ways,” Kelin said.

Kelin takes O’Connell’s story seriously, but also brings the Irishman’s knack for entertainment to the performance, dancing, singing and speaking in Pohnpeian.

“O’Connell came to new understandings about his own life late in his career,” Kelin said. “I have learned that I love interacting with people through developing theater with them — and always come out a better person because of the time I have spent.”