Within our foyer exists the most magical display of puppets you could imagine! Literally hundreds line the walls and ceiling providing a standing monument to the fine work produced by the Company throughout the last 27 years.

In April 2008 Spare Parts Puppet Theatre hosted The 20th UNIMA Congress and World Puppetry Festival – the Olympics of Puppetry.Never before, had an event like this been held in the Southern Hemisphere and it was only the third time it had been held outside Europe in it’s 80 year history… it was very exciting!

The Million Puppet Project was at the centre of this amazing event. For the two years leading up to the event we asked people from across the world to make and send a puppet to Perth for the Million Puppet Project. It was a Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Puppet Display! While we didn’t have a million puppets we have many thousands of stories, touched many lives and brought our love and magic of puppetry to more than a million people.

The strength of the project revolved around art, community and story. The Million Puppet Project conducted 10 significant regional residencies across Western Australia with artists working in Exmouth, Onslow, Karratha, Margaret River, Albany, Denmark, Esperance, Broome, Mandurah and the Mowanjum/Gibb River Road people. We received puppets from over 65 countries across the world, including Estonia, Armenia, France, China, Spain, India, South Africa, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Algeria, Canada, USA, UK, New Caledonia, Cambodia, Christmas Island, Lapland, Finland…. this is just naming a very few.

Some of these puppets are on exhibition in our museum. Next time you visit try and guess which countries some of the puppets come from? Puppets came from the young, the older, indigenous communities, people of varying degrees of ability, refugees, puppet companies, the school of the air – we even infiltrated the prison system.

Through the Puppet Caravan that traversed the breadth of Australia we took the art of puppetry to people living in the remotest parts of Australia. Try to spot the puppet caravan that sat on the dashboard of the van? Every single one of the 18 585 puppets made tells a story, a story of where it has come from, who it was made by and every puppet holds a little piece of the imagination of the maker

Also located at our theatre is a small collection of books and puppet related merchandise available for purchase. Whenever we present a production based on a book, we are almost certain to be selling copies in our shop. Furry finger puppets, crazy pens, wooden marionettes and fun t-shirts are some of the other merchandise we carry throughout the year. Remember us when you are next looking for an exciting and unusual present! Gift vouchers to our shows are also available for purchase.

The Museum and shop are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (although it can often be closed for an hour or so at lunchtime). Admission is free.