Kaytek the Wizard by Brian Hull
In 2015, I was browsing through books at the Nashville Public Library when I came across an obscure Polish children’s book with a boy wizard on the cover. Immediately I thought, “What is this, some Harry Potter ripoff?” Then I saw it was copyrighted 1933.
The book, “Kaytek the Wizard” is the work of Janusz Korczak, a children’s rights activist, pediatrician and author best known for refusing to abandon the children of his Warsaw orphanage when they were deported to Treblinka, despite offers of refuge that might have saved his life.
The book became available in English only in 2012. It tells the story of a young boy called Kaytek who incredibly obtains the powers of a wizard, and at first uses this gift to play pranks at school and in his neighborhood, but soon his increasing powers cause major chaos around the city of Warsaw. Revolving around the notion that power is not without responsibility, nor without repercussions, this story speaks to every child's dream of freeing themselves from the endless control of adults, and shaping the world to their own designs. That he is a wizard is almost beside the point.
We obtained the rights to produce a puppet play from the publisher, and with my partner Mary Tanner, we worked with songwriter Sarah Hart and animator Galen Fott to assemble a show that used table-top puppetry combined with rear-projection animation. The show is then performed live with a European-inspired style combining puppets and animation, while Mary and I are also seen throughout the show, playing characters opposite the puppets.
The show premiered at the Nashville International Puppet Festival in 2016 and has toured the country, from Tennessee to Santa Barbara and more, even receiving an award at the International Korczak Convention in Seattle in 2018. This summer we brought the show to the WAPASA Collaborative Storytelling and Puppetry Conference - July 28th through July 31st at the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School in New York.
Our show was hosted at Hudson Hall in the beautiful Hudson Opera House – made possible with special thanks to the Dessner Family and Rivertown Lodge. Everyone involved was welcoming, engaged and professional; the staff for the Conference and at Hudson Hall and of note: Aaron Ping, videographer for the entire conference. Janene Ping of WAPASA and Mariola Strahlberg of Korczak USA introduced us at the event, which also had numerous displays concerning Korczak and his work, curated by Ms. Strahlberg. We were overwhelmed by the turnout and humbled that there was a reception for us after the show at the Hall. Truly wonderful and moving.
As it was with the rest of the WAPASA conference – the group attending was enthusiastic and curious and open to all the performances, presentations and workshops. We were impressed by the craftsmanship of all involved – expressions of art, storytelling, movement, and beautiful music. Mary and I held a workshop on shadow puppetry with light and color that would become part of the “Enchanted Waters” collaborative performance that concluded the conference.
Before we left we performed “Kaytek the Wizard” again, this time for the community at the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School. Once more, a wonderful and welcoming crowd, and a great way to end our visit – “Wonder, Wisdom and Enchantment” was the theme of the conference and we certainly experienced all three. A big thank-you to the WAPASA Board and staff working so well to create the event!
Since then, our show has been picked up and is now represented and managed by Robin Klinger Entertainment in New York – who has begun work on promoting the show to perform nationally and internationally. And we are working on new shows, hopefully to bring to a WAPASA conference in the future!
For more information about Janusz Korczak, visit: http://korczakusa.com/
Brian Hull
BriAnimations Living Entertainment
https://robinklingerentertainment.com/project/kaytek-the-wizard/
