By Brendan Foster
People have taken to social media to vent their spleens after Cirque Du Soleil cancelled its last shows in Perth on Sunday without any warning.
The French Canadian circus had been performing its show Kooza at the Belmont Racecourse since April 13.
Punters took to social media to voice their frustration.
But when hundreds of people turned up on Sunday for the final two shows, they were handed a piece of paper telling them the circus had been cancelled because of technical difficulties.
One angry person posted on the Cirque Du Soleil Perth event Facebook page, saying he had bought tickets for his mum for her birthday.
This letter was handed to people turning up to the cancelled show.
"Just received a phone call from her saying the show has been cancelled with little information apart from a technical difficulty and now people have been left stranded and waiting for an hour with no explanation or emails or anything at the front of the show," he wrote.
"This is a total disgrace and I understand that safety is a priority when it comes to your performers, but why weren't people informed by social media or email or any means as soon as this issue was found?
"Do we get compensation for the mess around and loss of joy for our loved ones who are very disappointed with how this is been handled?"
Another person wrote on the circus' Facebook page claiming she had travelled two hours with her son to see the show.
"We got there early at 12pm," she wrote.
"Waited with everyone else only to find out it had been cancelled. Spent extra money on food and drinks as it was a special day out for us. Yes we were disappointed but there isn't much we can do.
"I'm out of pocket and wasted one of the rare days off I get but have to accept it and move on... and drive the two hours back home after waiting."
Callers inundated Radio 6PR on Monday morning angry at not given any warning the shows were cancelled.
"I turned up for the 5.30pm show as a present for my wife's birthday – we deliberately held off because we wanted to go to last performance," Perry said.
"It was a nightmare trying to get in... we got right to the front and a lady comes up and hands a slip through the window which says tonight's show has been cancelled.
"We thought it was a joke...we thought it was part of the show so we just laughed. But we could by the look on her face she was serious."
Susan said when she turned up for 1.30pm show a staffer told her there would be a delay of 10-15 minutes.
"We waited another hour and then we started to see all these people walking past with flyers and it said 'due to circumstances beyond our control we are unfortunately been forced to cancel the show for today'," she said.
"When we thought hang on a minute we just paid $15 for parking, then all of sudden the lady directing the traffic is handing us little cards saying contact the acting security manager of Perth Racing Security to get our $15 back."
The letter handed to people at the cancelled shows said "we would like to do all we can to allow you to enjoy the complete performance of Kooza on another date".
It might be hard for circus-goers to get to the next performance of Kooza, as the Cirque Du Soleil has already moved on to Rome, Italy.
This was due to an electrical problem at the Big Top which, despite best efforts throughout the afternoon, could not be fixed. The show cannot operate without power and Cirque du Soleil was forced to cancel the 1.30pm show. Work continued to address the problem but was unsuccesful and the 5.30pm show was also consequently cancelled.
A spokesperson for Cirque Du Soleil said the show couldn't go on because of an electrical problem with the big top.
"It is distressing when we have to cancel shows, especially because it involves disappointing our audiences," she said
"There is unfortunately no option to move patrons into alternative shows as these were our final two performances in Perth before Kooza leaves Australia. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment experienced by our fans."
Patrons who purchased tickets through the Cirque Du Soleil website, Ticketek, Ticketmaster, Lastix, and Smartix will be automatically refunded on the credit card used for the purchase. Patrons who purchased tickets elsewhere should contact the relevant point of sale.
Patrons with any further questions regarding ticket refunds should call the Cirque Du Soleil customer Call Centre on 1800 036 685.