Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day: Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s Great Aussie Sheep Muster

The Great Aussie Sheep Muster will be “roving entertainment” at this year’s Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day. It is the first time the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre has performed at the event with the entertainment hoped to create a joyful roving celebration of the history of sheep farming in Australia. Dedicated to the creation of puppetry and the artists who create them, SPPT is recognised as one of Australia’s most respected puppetry companies. SPPT creative producer Megan Fitzgerald said the event’s performance had a twist as it was not the sheep being mustered, but the stockman. She said through puppetry SPPT told stories that go to the heart of what it is to be human while connecting audiences across generations. With a history spanning more than 40 years, SPPT has entertained and enriched the lives of millions of audience members both in Australia and overseas. The SPPT vision is to engage with timeless and universal themes, exploring and celebrating what it is to be human. Formed in 1981 the company’s first production Faust was presented as part of the 1981 Festival of Perth and was billed as a “total visual experience”. In 1987 Spare Parts built its current venue at Short Street, Fremantle. The venue has a 190-seat theatre, a rehearsal studio, creative learning space, workshops, an office and storage space. From 1997 to 2001 Spare Parts was under the artistic direction of Noriko Nishimoto. The company is now led by an outstanding artistic team in award-winning artistic director Philip Mitchell and associate director Michael Barlow.