‘WILD’ explores the mind of Maurice Sendak
Kids take the story behind ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to the stage
Those who knew Maurice Sendak described his personality as on both sides of the spectrum. Sometimes, the famed children’s author was kind and carefree. Other times, he could be incredibly grumpy.
It’s that range of emotions that local playwrights try to convey in their new show about the beloved author who, in 1963, wrote and illustrated what would become one of the most renowned children’s books of our time.
Santa Fe Performing Arts’ original play based on Sendak and his experience creating “Where the Wild Things Are” opens this weekend at the Armory for the Arts. The production features 20 children, ages 6 to 14.
It was the idea of creating a children’s play with magical, fun creatures that initially drew director Tara Khozein and the kid performers to “Where the Wild Things Are” for their newest production.
“And as I did more research into Maurice Sendak’s life and what children’s books were like before ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ it seemed like more and more of an interesting story historically, as well as just being aesthetically fun,” said Khozein.
“WILD” takes place in 1960s New York as Sendak is trying to write and pitch the picture book. The story of a misbehaving child who sails to an island of Wild Things after being sent to his room without supper wasn’t an immediate hit with his publishing company.
At the time, corporate execs wanted to publish children’s books featuring well-behaved kids instead of those who break the rules. Not to mention, publishers were originally put off by his illustrations of horned, furry Wild Things.
Sendak’s belief that literature should include stories about regular, imperfect children is something playwright Katy Andersen said she and Khozein wanted to convey in their production, as well.
“We wanted to capture that kids make mistakes and sometimes adults look at things as mistakes, (but) it’s just natural,” she said.
The show, which the two created using several biographies and Sendak interviews for reference, goes back and forth between the real world and Sendak’s imaginary one.
The settings include actual places like his office and those of the Harper & Row publishing company — now known as HarperCollins — and Sendak’s imaginary world that resembles what became the setting for his bestseller, with Wild Things included.
The play also includes an imaginary friend named Rosie who helps Sendak craft his story. Anderson and Khozein based this character on a child Sendak would see playing outside his Brooklyn apartment and had used for inspiration for stories like 1960’s “The Sign on Rosie’s Door.”
“Sendak seems like such a sort of goofy, imaginative, awkward kind of guy, and so the idea of him seeing this little girl outside of his window and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s what childhood is,’ and sort of drawing from that for all of his characters, was very inspiring for us,” said Khozein.
Throughout the story in the show, Sendak faces the struggle of fitting in with the real world while embracing his creative, fun-loving side that includes Rosie. It’s a battle between writing the story children will love and giving the publishers what they think will sell to parents and librarians.
“Everyone in society is pressuring him to grow up and be an adult, but at the same time he wants to express his more childlike self,” said 13-year-old Tess Odom, one of the Santa Fe Performing Arts actors playing Sendak. The show is double-cast with different performances featuring different actors.
Sendak’s journey is one audience members can learn from, said Tess, whether it’s a lesson about creative freedom or just being yourself.
“You don’t always have to be such a stuck-up adult,” she said. “You can just let loose or be a kid sometimes.”