Being Adventure Friday, we decided to travel a bit further from home and ventured to the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens for ‘A Whale’s Tale’. This children’s play is part of the Horizon Arts Festival 2018 and is presented by Born in a Taxi theatre company.

The Whale’s Tale is about Manilayo, a whale and The Navigator. Manilayo has become sick and Dr. Walrus helps The Navigator restore the whale back to health. Five lucky members of the audience (4 children and one adult) are chosen to assist The Navigator and Dr. Walrus with caring for Manilayo.

Rubbish pollution and changing human behaviour are the principle themes of the show, presented in a way that resonates with younger audiences. It wasn’t exactly a riveting show from an adult’s perspective, but there are the occasional one liners and off the cuff statements pitched at the parents/adults in the crowd. The show was highly engaging for younger children (ideally kindergarten and lower primary age groups), with lots of slapstick and toilet humour.

After the performance, we were able to get up close to the whale and even look down its mouth.

Skuzz and Planet Duplo really loved the performance and haven’t stopped talking about it since. The environmental message has also hit home – Skuzz has been busily picking up rubbish to stop the whales getting sick. Yay!

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