Puppeteer Tom Lee is returning to Hilo for a shadow puppet performance Thursday at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
Originally from Mililani, Oahu, Lee will be performing his show, “Tomte,” at the center, which is the same venue where he made his first puppet performance at the age of 16.
Lee spent six weeks in residence at UH-Hilo as part of SPEBE, which is a Summer Program for the Enhancement of Basic Education, where he spent time in a theater program.
“One of the things that was so memorable for me that summer was when we did a three-person, Japanese-style puppet show. We made the puppet, the scenery and learned puppeteering,” Lee said. “It became the precursor to all my work as a performer and made a significant impact on my life.”
Lee moved to the mainland after high school and worked as an electrician and carpenter at theaters where he frequently worked with puppet companies on the side. Puppetry ended up being his creative outlet.
“It really hadn’t occurred to me that you could make a career in puppetry, but after working with a few shows, I realized it mixes the two things in my brain that I love to do — performance and design,” Lee said. “I link so much of my love of puppetry with my experience in Hilo and growing up in Hawaii, which is why I love coming back to the Big Island so much.”
Lee decided to make puppetry his primary focus in his late 20s, and he is a student of Japanese master puppeteer Koryu Nishikawa V, with whom he created “Shank’s Mare” in 2015 and recently premiered “Akutagawa.”
Along with creating and performing puppet shows, Lee also is co-director of the Chicago Puppet Studio &Puppet Lab and teaches puppetry manipulation and design extensively.
Lee’s current show, “Tomte,” is an adaptation of a Swedish story, “The Tomten,” by Astrid Lindgren and the poem by Victor Rydberg.
Tomte is a Swedish gnome, which is a quiet and unseen caretaker who watches over the lives of humans and animals. On a cold winter night on a snow-covered farm, Tomte teaches audiences about the importance of kindness when looking after living things.
“I chose this story for my first solo tour in Hawaii, because it’s a story that’s meant for kids, but it’s a profound story can be enjoyed by adults as well,” Lee said. “It’s a cute story that has a lot of silent, quiet life lessons while being silly and funny.”
The performance is suitable for all ages and was created using a live feed video of shadow puppets filmed through an overhead video camera and projected onto a small shadow screen.
Lee adapted the story and designed and built the puppets and scenery. The shadow puppetry is done on a light table, and a camera above the table projects the shadows onto a screen.
“I love this show, because it’s a crazy combination of modern technology and old-school puppetry styles,” Lee said. “They are figurative puppets, and I’m the only puppeteer, which is special.”
Lee will perform all of the puppetry, animal sounds and scenic transitions from behind the screen, with narration by storyteller Lisa Gonzales. Following the shadow portion of the piece, Tomte will emerge from the screen to interact with the audience.
“Tomte” is at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Performing Arts Center.
Tickets are for reserved seating and start at $20 for the general public, $15 for discounted tickets, and $10 for UH-Hilo and Hawaii Community College students and youth 17 years and younger.
Tickets are available online at artsctr.uhh.hawaii.edu, or over the phone at (808) 932-7490 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Tuesday through Thursday.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.