Dear Friends of Puppet Showplace Theater:

Puppet Showplace Theater has been devoted to developing innovative puppetry productions to the delight of thousands of children and their families for 46 years. This creative work would not have been possible without your support, for which we are so grateful.

We write to bring your attention to a serious situation that has developed within our organization. On October 7, the Board of Trustees of Puppet Showplace was informed of fiscal irregularities in its bank account. We soon learned that our fiscal controls had been circumvented and that Puppet Showplace’s bank account had been fully depleted. We quickly reported this matter to the Brookline Police Department for investigation, which is ongoing. We are working with legal counsel to understand the full impact on the organization and our options for attempting to recover the funds that were stolen from the organization.

Based on these developments, the Board terminated the employment of the Managing Director.

We and our fellow trustees are working with the organization’s Artistic Director and dedicated staff and resident artists to evaluate what this incident means for our future programming. As we manage this crisis, we will review all of our fiscal operations and expect to institute additional policies and procedures to ensure we are adhering to best practices.

We are grateful for the professionalism and dedication of the employees and artists who have banded together through the pandemic to provide virtual programming during this pause in in-person performances. While this is a devastating and heartbreaking experience, we are hopeful that with the support of our loyal and caring community, our donors and grantors, we will be able to keep the theater moving ahead.

Thank you for your continued support of Puppet Showplace Theater.

Sincerely,

Puppet Showplace Theater Board of Trustees

Margueritte Murphy, President
Edward Zlotkowski, Vice President
Alison Plante, Clerk
Jodi Ekelchik, Treasurer