Tomte
Tom Lee (IL/HI)
Recommended for ages 4+
Length of Show: 35 minutes
Show Description:
Tomte is a Swedish gnome who takes care of a family and their farm, though they never see him. On a cold winter night, Tomte teaches us about the importance of kindness and looking after all living things. This performance invites reflection on those who we don’t see that nurture us and the silent, quiet care that keeps us together.
Artist/Company Bio:
Artist/Company Bio:Tom Lee is a director, designer, and puppet artist whose work bridges manipulated figures, objects, film techniques, and animation. He began his career at La MaMa Experimental Theater and is a student of Koryū Nishikawa V. Tom recently premiered the puppetry adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness at Chicago Puppet Festival and Mirrored Pool at Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts, in conjunction with Child of Wood, an exhibit of his puppet work. Mr. Lee is a 2025-2026 resident artist at Northwestern University, a recipient of the 2025 3Arts Teaching Award and co-director of the Chicago Puppet Studio and Chicago Puppet Lab. A member of the original Broadway cast of War Horse (with puppetry by Handspring Puppet Company), he has designed and performed puppetry for major opera and theater productions including Florencia en el Amazonas and Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera. Lee is co-director of Chicago Puppet Studio and co-founded the Chicago Puppet Lab to mentor emerging artists.
Credits:
designed and performed by Tom Lee
storyteller Lisa Gonzales
adapted from “The Tomten” by Astrid Lindgren
from a poem by Victor Rydberg
Company Website: tomleeprojects.com