Help An Independent Clown Duo Bring Their Show to Sicily!

We are Small Buns Duo, a contemporary clown duo based out of Denver, CO. Currently, we are in the process of touring our show SVRC, aka Sickly Victorian Rat Circus, around the globe! SVRC follows the journey of two rats forced to abandon their home and set out in search of somewhere safe. It is told through shadow puppetry and circus with only music and squeaks. This show explores the complex topics of gentrification, belonging, and helping one another through a family-friendly lens focused on whimsy and play! Since it is a silent show, it is accessible to all languages and levels of hearing.

We won the Italian Fringe Exchange Award in 2024 to bring our show overseas to Catania, Sicily, for their 3rd annual Fringe Festival in 2025! We decided to say "yes" and will be lucky enough to be presenting our show October 16th-26th. While winning a fellowship award means we do not have to pay any fees and will have help with housing, it does not cover the cost of getting us (and all of our equipment) there and back. This is where YOU come in! The concept of the Fringe Festival is a platform for artists to display their work and get it out into the world. It is seldom about the amount of money to be made. We are hoping to ease some of the financial heartache of being full-time artists while staying focused on presenting this show. While we know there are 1000 places in need of monetary support, we are extending out our rat hats.

What we are asking for is assistance covering the travel costs. This money will go directly to flights, transportation, and equipment handling.

How will the funds be used?

Total costs we have-

Travel: $4000 for flights including gear bags and travel to and from venue

Production costs: $1000 for new gear bag suited to airline restrictions, backup gear (lightbulbs for projector, slides, materials for puppet making), and production assistant helping with setup/tear down/video/technical.

All donations will go directly to covering these expenses!

What do you get? Besides the satisfaction of knowing you are helping art to thrive, we would love to send you a postcard from our destination! As well as keep you in the loop on our show in Catania with regular updates here. For higher donors we will be making stickers and hand printing shirts to send!