STAGED READINGS
SUNDAY, NOV 1 • 2PM
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Chicago, IL
WEDNESDAY, DEC 23 • 7PM
GROUND FLOOR THEATRE
Austin, TX
Want to bring WOJTEK to your city?
Calling all universities, producers, and puppet enthusiasts…
SYNOPSIS
WOJTEK is a deeply moving journey to find home, inspired by the true story of a legendary bear who joined a company of exiled Polish soldiers on a wildly imaginative adventure around the world. Told through life-size puppetry in the tradition of War Horse, and set to the music of Fryderyk Chopin, this unique theatrical experience must be seen to be believed.
THE PUPPETS
Tomas and the Library Lady (2021)
Music by BENJAMIN ROBERTS
Book and lyrics by JOSE CRUZ GONZALEZ
Photo by Justin Barbin
Puppetry design for WOJTEK is currently underway with B. Iden Payne Award-winning designer Teresa Carson. We’re following in the tradition of shows like War Horse and The Lion King, as well as the ImagineU production of Tomas and the Library Lady at Northwestern University, for which I wrote the music.
Here’s a look-book of some art that has inspired us.
from War Horse
from The Walk Productions
from Royal de Luxe
from Tomas and the Library Lady
THE REAL WOJTEK
Wojtek (VOY-tek) was a Syrian brown bear born in 1942. He was purchased (or adopted, or taken… accounts differ) near Hamadan, Iran, by a group of soldiers in “Anders’ Army,” the 2nd Polish Corps, formed from men, women, and children after their release from the Soviet Gulag.
He drank beer and smoked (or more likely, ate) cigarettes. He enjoyed wrestling in the afternoons and snuggling with the other soldiers at night. While Wojtek started his time with the 22nd Transport Company as a mascot, he was eventually promoted from private to corporal, traveling through Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, and Europe. In Italy, he served alongside the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, carrying crates of shells up a mountain in the harrowing Battle of Monte Cassino.
Today, there are sculptures, statues, and monuments of Wojtek in over a dozen cities across Poland, Italy, England, Scotland, and Wales. He has become a symbol for enduring Polish solidarity and international fraternity known the world over.
In this musical, the stories of Wojtek’s human care-takers have been fictionalized, but the life of this the bear is too bewildering to make up. There are many tales told of Wojtek, but at the heart of all of them is the story of an animal who helped displaced Poles find their humanity again. Among those Poles were Irena Bokiewicz, Henryk Zacharewicz, Lew Worzowski, a boy also called Wojciech (nicknamed “Big Wojtek”), and a man named Piotr Prendysz.
THE WRITERS
WHY CHOPIN?
Like the characters in our story, Fryderyk Chopin was a Polish exile. At just twenty years old, after achieving great successes as a composer and pianist in Warsaw, he left to tour Europe. He was never to see his home again. The November Uprising of 1830 made Chopin’s return to Poland impossible, but his music will remain in the hearts of Poles all around the world, forever.
AND NOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME…
I’m Benjamin Roberts, and my family also comes from Poland. Before WOJTEK, I wrote a musical called Ferdinand (in development), and composed the score for Tomas and the Library Lady. I’ve arranged and prepared music for Broadway stars including Jessie Mueller, Brian d’Arcy James, and JJ Niemann, and my orchestrations are regularly featured at Chicago’s Marriott Theatre.
I also write and arrange music for wind ensembles. My work has been performed in over a dozen countries across five continents, and for leading figures including former President Joe Biden and Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You can follow my latest work at benjaminrobertsmusic.com.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
A developmental reading of WOJTEK will be presented in association with the American Music Theatre Project and Northwestern University to an invited audience on November 1, 2026 in Chicago, IL.
On December 23, 2026, executive producers David R. Jarrott and Will Gibson Douglas, along with Drama Desk Award–winning and Tony Award–nominated producer Laura Galt, will present a staged reading of WOJTEK at Ground Floor Theatre in Austin, Texas.
PROGRAMMING WOJTEK
WOJTEK is looking to further its development with a university program, a puppetry company, or a producing partner ready to build something ambitious.
FOR UNIVERSITIES, this piece features a cast of six principals with an expandable ensemble, and puppetry that can involve design, fabrication, and movement students alongside music and theatre departments. Chopin’s score opens the door to co-programming with your music faculty.
FOR ARTISTIC DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS, WOJTEK is based on a true story with international reach, engaging directly with resonant themes including forced displacement, authoritarianism, and the power of tolerance. The life-size puppetry creates a unique, human-centered storytelling experience that audiences must see live.
Script, full score, and demo recordings are available now, along with orchestrations for solo piano or chamber orchestra. I’m glad to talk through casting, scale, and how a workshop or residency can fit your season, or just to send materials over for you to sit with.
CONTACT: info@benjaminrobertsmusic.com
And if you simply like bears, that’s a perfectly good reason to write too.
MORE COMING SOON…
Want to see WOJTEK? Check out the upcoming staged readings in Chicago, IL and Austin, TX!