A darkly comic and provocative theatre show with live music for ages 10+
Written by Hazel Darwin-Clements
Performed by Hazel Darwin-Clements & Fay Guiffo
Original Director & Dramaturg: Lewis Hetherington
Outside Eye: Andy Cannon
Sound Designer & Composer: Nik Paget-Tomlinson
Additional Composition: Fay Guiffo
Touring Production Manager: Mamoru Iriguchi
A show about smallness
facing up to hugeness
Maya and The Whale is the story of a young climate activist on the run, grappling for hope amid unfolding global disasters.
Maya finds herself face to face with a dying whale and is confronted with the enormity of the task ahead. Her dad works in the oil industry and her mum just wants her to enjoy a childhood free of worry, but how can she go about business as usual when there’s a Climate Emergency?
The audience plays the part of the dying whale in this darkly comic and provocative one woman show for a generation faced with unprecedented challenges.
“I think it’s perfect for kids. It’s got just the right amount of profound realisation and facts that they might not have thought of or realised/learned yet. It was just the right amount of impact for the age group it is aimed at.”(audience)
“I thought the performance was incredible.” (audience)
An Independent Arts Projects’ (IAP) productions by Hazel Darwin-Clements.
Top image: Andrew Perry
2025 Tour Dates
2pm, Sunday 31 August, Lyth Arts Centre, as part of Splore *
7pm, Thursday 4 September, Universal Hall, Findhorn, as part of Splore *
1.30pm, Wednesday 10 September, The Barn, Banchory, as part of Splore *
3pm, Saturday 13 & Sunday 14, Mareel, Lerwick, as part of Splore *
6.30pm, Friday 19 September, St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, as part of Splore *
4pm, Sunday 21 September, Timespan, Helmsdale, as part of Splore *
2pm, Tuesday 14 October, Paisley Arts Centre
2.30pm, Thursday 23 October, The Byre Theatre, St Andrews
2026 Tour Dates
4.30pm, Thursday 26 February, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
11am, Friday 27 February, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
Saturday 28 February, MacPhail Centre, Ullapool
Wednesday 4 March, An Lanntair, Stornoway
Friday 6 March, Taigh-Chearsabhagh, North Uist
* Splore: North Scotland Children’s Theatre and Dance Network is supported by Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance and tours alongside Ideas Jukebox as a double bill of new work for young audiences by Hazel Darwin-Clements.
Maya and the Whale toured Scotland’s schools between 20 February & 31 March 2023 as part of the Theatre in Schools Scotland (TISS) project supported by Imaginate and National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) when Rosalind Sydney acted as Associate Director and Katy Wilson provided Costume Support to the project. See trailer by TISS at the bottom of this page.
“This show is about smallness facing up to hugeness. Specifically, individual young people facing the enormity of our Climate Crisis. What would it take for things to change?”
Hazel Darwin-clements
CREATIVE TEAM
Hazel Darwin-Clements (Writer & Performer) is a writer and performer from Edinburgh who also creates podcasts and puppets. She’s currently looking for ways to create a more sustainable practice and consider the Climate Crisis as a central theme to her work.
Her most recent play, Human Sacrifice was performed in Brazil and she worked on School of the (Im)Possible (Necessary Space & Platô Cultural, Brazil) Hazel was co-creator of Hup (Starcatchers and RSNO). Other credits include School of the (Im)Possible (Necessary Space & Platô Cultural, Brazil) Sense & Blush (Frozen Charlotte) & The Attic (Starcatchers/Imaginate) Too Many Cooks, Round in Circles, Shake n’ Bake &the Elf Experiment (all with Starcatchers) & We Have Won the Land (Rural Nation).
Hazel has produced and presented several podcasts including People to People (co-produced with Malawian Chimzy Dorey about the unique Scotland- Malawi partnership), CliMates (100 conversations about the climate) and Small Small Rainbows (5 min kids stories supported by Imaginate). She’s also involved in community climate action and runs a cargo bike library, a community fridge and a peer-to-peer car sharing network in her local area.
More: hazeldarwinclements.co.uk
Andy Cannon (he/him) is a writer, director, theatre maker, performer, and professional storyteller based in Scotland. In 1996, he founded Wee Stories Theatre for Children, which quickly gained a reputation for high-quality, award-winning productions such as Labyrinth, The Emperor’s New Kilt, and Arthur – the Story of a King. Since moving on from Wee Stories, he has focused on creating and performing original work, including Scota-land (with Mull Theatre for the London 2012 Festival) and Tales of a Grandson (with Red Bridge Arts and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival). In 2014, he served as Creative Director Performance for the Opening Ceremony of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. His work includes the internationally acclaimed Black Beauty (created with Shona Reppe and Andy Manley), and the solo storytelling piece Is This a Dagger? – a retelling of Macbeth that has toured extensively across Scotland and internationally. In 2020, his award-winning show Space Ape was halted by the pandemic, though he continued to create, including The Stage’s Door for the Royal Lyceum’s Christmas Tales. Recently, he wrote and directed SPIKE! – a dinosaur ballet for young audiences – and has been developing The Last People on Earth, a pop-up community theatre project with Open Road Productions and Aberdeen University.
Fay Guiffo (she/her) Fay Guiffo is a French Cameroonian violinist, performer and multi-disciplinary artist. Her previous work includes performing in Death of a Salesman directed by Andy Arnold (UK Tour 2025) and in the dance production SKETCHES directed by Katie Armstrong (2023). She collaborated with eminent musicians such as David Paul Jones (Lone Tree) and Young Fathers (soundtrack for the Danny Boyle’s film 28 Years Later). She was invited to perform in major festivals such as the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Passionate about theatre-making, Fay is currently creating her own show Arcana 21, supported by Creative Scotland. She lives in Edinburgh. www.fayguiffo.com
Lewis Hetherington (he/him) is an award-winning playwright, director and performance maker. His work is rooted in collaboration and storytelling and he is passionate about using the arts to create space for positive change. He is co founder of fieldwork performance. He was creative lead on QWERK, a mini festival of writing for performance by queer writers from all over the world, and also on Dear Green Place, an extensive programme of creative activity across North East Glasgow responding to the climate crisis including dance, music, writing, foraging, and community action. He is an Associate of The PappyShow and worked on both BOYS and THANKS FOR NOTHING. He is a passionate advocate of their work which celebrates marginalised voices through a process of kindness, inclusion and radical joy. Other work includes The Coming Back Out Ball (National Theatre of Scotland), Rocket Post!, The Secret Life of Suitcases and Cloud Man (Constellation Points), friends electric (Visible Fictions), Leaving Planet Earth (Grid Iron/EIF) and six Christmas shows at Platform.
Mamoru Iriguchi (he/they) is an Edinburgh-based award-winning performance maker and theatre designer with a background in zoology. Rooted in his experience in designing set, costume and projection, Mamoru’s performance work often explores liveness and pre-recorded-ness, gender and sexuality, and fairytales and evolution theories. His visually striking and surreally humorous pieces have been presented in diverse platforms including theatre, dance, live art and participatory arts. They includes ‘What You See When Your Eyes Are Closed / What You Don’t See When Your Eyes Are Open’ (Nominee: Offies Award), ‘Sex Education Xplorers (S.E.X.)’ (Nominee: Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS)), ‘EATEN’ (Nominee: CATS), ‘The Tallest’ (Tate Early Years & Families commission), ‘4D Cinema’ (Winner, Autopsy Award) and ‘Projector/Conjector’ (Aerowaves Twenty14). All his full-length pieces toured in the UK and internationally. Mamoru’s theatre design work includes ‘Mincemeat’ (Cardboard Citizens, Best Design, London Evening Standard Theatre Awards), ‘Love Song to Lavender Menace’ (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh) and ‘The Pink Bit’s (Mapping4D, Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Award). www.iriguchi.co.uk
Nik Paget-Tomlinson (he/him) is a musician, composer, sound designer and Foley artist who creates work for theatre, dance, installation, film and listening. He has performed live with various bands and musicians and has had record releases in Europe and the USA. Nik is part of The Grim Collective with Jack Hunter, was a founder member of trip hop collective 3 Bag Brew, and formed electronica duo Puchi with Niroshini Thambar. He has performed live with various bands and musicians including The Katet, Niki King, Nuns n’ Moses and Bogus. As composer and sound designer Nik has worked with a wide range of theatre and dance companies including National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre, Grid Iron, Dundee Rep, Independent Arts Projects, A Play a Pie and a Pint, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh and Imaginate.
Credits include: Snake in the Grass (Dundee Rep), The Guns of Johnny Diablo (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), One of Two (Independent Arts Projects), Moonset (Citizens Theatre), Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor (Paul Morrissey, Christopher Wheeler, Molly Morris), Rocket Post (Constellation Points), Doppler (Grid Iron Theatre Company), Niqabi Ninja (Independent Arts Projects) and Revolution Days (Bijli Productions). http://www.nikpt.com
Photo credit: Andrew Parry