Brzezinski & Schap
is a shadow puppetry duo founded in 2016 by Caitlin Brzezinski & Libby Schap. Their distinct style creates performances for stage and film using moving shadow screens, innovative lighting textures, and blurred lines between puppeteer and shadow character. They were awarded the Jim Henson Foundation Workshop and Production Grant for their premiere production, Flying Lessons, to tour the U.S.
Flying Lessons
Flying Lessons is a dance-like shadow puppet show, using traveling shadow screens, flying puppet characters, and non-traditional lighting. Blurring the line between puppet, set, and plaything - characters cross the fourth wall, are lit in front of or behind a screen, merge to form visual hybrids, and appear in surprising ways. This art nouveau esthetic, with a graphic novel twist, results in an enchanting and unsettling evening of theater for adults.
Performed by Caitlin Brzezinski, Libby Schap, and Lisa Joyce. Original music by Marshall Daniels and Everett Hardin.
Developed as part of residencies with Puppet Showplace Theater and the Ko Festival.
2017 Bob Jolly Charitable Trust
2018 Jim Henson Foundation Grant
2019 Jim Henson Foundation Grant
Body Stories
Body Stories is a short film shadow puppet series exploring the question: What is it like to be in your body? Highlighting personal stories of people who answered this question and offered their bodies as shadow screens during filming.
Puppetry by Caitlin Brzezinski & Libby Schap. Featuring: Audre Bennett, Hannah Datz, Rashaun Fraser, Lisa Joyce, Sayeh Khorsandi, Dan Schap, Dylan Villavicencio, Chris Vu. Original music by Christopher Vu.
2023 Reel Puppetry Film Festival
The Changing Room
The Changing Room is a multilayered shadow nightmare that reflects the absurd and tumultuous experience that can accompany trying on clothes.
Using a mix of live and filmed puppetry, bodies and objects become shadow screens as well as characters – subject to grotesque images of anatomy transformations and manipulation. Through this shadow world, the show looks at how bodies are viewed, limited, and reduced. The result is a hauntingly beautiful piece that seeks to delight and unsettle.
Performed by Caitlin Brzezinski and Libby Schap. Original music by Christopher Vu.
Developed as part of The Object Movement Puppet Festival & Residency