Artist training & development
Throughout the year we offer puppetry master-classes for adults and professional artists, led by talented designers and puppetry artists.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2025
Applications are now closed for our Artist in Residence Program, 2025.
Our Artist in Residence program offers a two-week residency at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in Fremantle and includes use of our studio space, technical equipment, workshop/making facilities, and support from company artistic and technical staff. We are excited by fearless and imaginative puppetry works that captivate and stimulate an audience emotionally and offer opportunities for greater participation, expression, and agency.
The program is open to independent artists working in puppetry and embraces exploration in creative practice and experimentation. Projects may be in their early stages or may have already undergone some development and can be for any audience. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre will contribute financially to the costs of the project up to $2500.
Priority will be given to Western Australian artists, and projects that show potential to be developed for presentation by Spare Parts in future will be given special consideration.
Join our mailing list at the bottom of the page to be the first to know when we’re accepting applications again.
Tertiary partnerships
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts offers Puppetry Training to Students
Since 2015, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre partnered with the Western Australian Performing Arts Academy (WAAPA) to offer a puppetry and visual theatre unit as part of the Bachelor of Performing Arts degree, giving students the opportunity to explore puppetry training as part of their course.
Dr Frances Barbe, previous Course Coordinator at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts said that she was very excited to be incorporating puppetry into the training of the performance-making students.
“Puppetry is a great training tool to sensitise performers to the full potential of objects in performance and to develop the visual intelligence of our performance-makers,” she said.
“Through their work with Spare Parts, our students will become more visual storytellers who understand the power of the image and metaphor in performance as well as the power of the word. Puppetry is evolving in all kinds of interesting ways in contemporary theatre and performance. We are so lucky to have a company like Spare Parts here on our doorstep, and I look forward to building on this exciting partnership in the future”.
MasterClasses
We are thrilled to announce a new week-long immersive Puppetry Masterclass, titled Immersive Principles, Audience Positioning and Worldbuilding. Our guest artist for 2026 is Peter Higgin, Founding Artistic Director of Punchdrunk Enrichment.
About
In this practice-led 5-day masterclass, hosted at All Saints’ College in Bull Creek, participants will explore the core principles of immersive work, with a particular focus on audience positioning, spatial storytelling, and worldbuilding. Using the school site as both inspiration and canvas, they’ll work with found stories and the unique histories embedded within the space to transform ideas into living, participatory worlds.
Masterclass Details
Date: 4 – 8 May 2026
Times: 9:00am – 5.00pm, Mon – Fri
Venue: All Saints’ College, 28 Ewing Ave, Bull Creek WA
Course Cost: $550.00
Register: bit.ly/SPPTmasterclass2026
Spots for this masterclass are limited, so make sure to secure your place today!
For questions or more information please contact:
Philip Mitchell – Artistic Director | ad@sppt.com.au | 08 9335 5044
Find out about more adult or professional workshops!
To stay up to date with our Training and Development opportunities, sign up to our mailing list below.
