Puppeteers snub Freo

by David Hall

April 10, 2008

The 2008 world puppetry festival has foresaken its port city roots for the bright lights of Perth’s CBD, says a senior Fremantle councillor.

The international festival is being driven by Freo-based Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. However, events in Fremantle have been as scarce as puppets’ teeth.

Cr John Strachan said he felt upset, after Spare Parts initially announced the festival last year at Fremantle’s Esplanade reserve.

“This led me to believe that the event was going to be a Fremantle-based one, but subsequently it hasn’t,” Cr Strachan lamented.

Only three of the 100+ international and local productions have been hosted in Fremantle, all at Spare Parts’ WA government-owned theatre. All other performances, roving productions, development workshops and free events have been held in and around Perth’s CBD.

Fremantle had not received one invitation to a festival production, or any other formal contact from the organisers, Cr Strachan said.

“We like to be reactive rather than proactive,” he explained, “and there have been no requests for us to attend.”

Festival executive producer Tony Riggio said two factors led the puppeteers to choose WA’s brash capital over its smaller, artier cousin.

 “There were not enough venues to accommodate all productions,” Mr Riggio said, “and the City of Perth poured a lot of funding into the project.”

Perth council granted $110,000 cash, and access to 11 venues for the two-week festival, set to wind up – in Perth – on April 12.

Cr Strachan and his colleague Cr Brad Pettitt did not recall any request from the festival for funding. eMU News asked festival organisers if they’d extended an invitation for Freo to get in on the act, but received no response by deadline.

Underwhelming ticket sales left a black mark on the first week of the festival, with several international acts failing to pull a crowd. Tony Riggio put this down to daytime performance times.