The health and wellbeing of our employees, artists, volunteers, audience members and supporters is our highest priority. We are continuously monitoring the COVID-19 situation and advice from the Government of Western Australian Department of Health regarding the Coronavirus. With the recent announcement that all non-essential, organised gatherings of 500 people or more are to be cancelled, we acknowledge that we have a greater responsibility to the wider community to ensure that all our stakeholders remain safe. It is our view that to support the governments distancing strategy, we will be cancelling our April season of Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa which was scheduled to run from April 11 to 25, 2020 at our home theatre in Fremantle.
The decision to cancel our April season of Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa has been an extremely difficult one and will see us lose income of between $60,000–$70,000. Further to this a number of planned tours for our large-scale work String Symphony are now being cancelled. We are faced with the impacts of both financial losses and lost employment opportunities for our artists. The full effect is yet to be determined, however early estimates suggest this will equate to around $230,000 in lost revenue or 20% of turnover, a significant loss to our organisation.
Artists are the lifeblood of our organisation and we are committed to honouring existing contracted artists and while the current cancellation to planned events will impact our freelance artists we are working to find ways to engage them and support them in any way we can.
Spare Parts Puppet Theatre is funded by the WA State Government but this only represents 40% of our income. 60% is derived from ticket sales, festival and events, sponsorship and our Adopt a Puppet program. So this is a very challenging time for everyone at Spare Parts.
All ticket holders for Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa will be entitled to a full refund. However ticket holders may consider transferring the value of booked tickets to a gift certificate valid for three years or convert to a tax deductible donation which will go towards supporting the employment of our artist. Box Office staff will be contacting ticket holders directly to make suitable arrangements, or call on 9335 5044.
For our loyal supporters who have not yet purchased tickets, and those who are in a position to help, you may wish to support the ongoing work of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre through our philanthropic Adopt-a-Puppet program or by making a one off donation. Find out more by heading HERE.
Please also consider signing a petition via Change.Org asking the federal Government to support the industry to avoid economic decimation.
For any queries or for more information, please email boxoffice@sppt.asn.au or call 9335 5044.