Making its world debut at the 2026 AWESOME Festival, Nick Bland’s award-winning “Walk of the Whales” is going from page to stage… and it’s a captivating experience that is set to make waves with kids.
If you’re unfamiliar with the tale: Walk of the Whales starts with the migration of whales to seaside cities and towns. They are initially a source of amusement to residents but their attempts to coexist create problems of elephantine proportions. As anti-whale sentiment swells among the humans, a young girl emerges to oppose the mainstream view and ask the whales why they’ve come ashore. They reply that they are escaping the filth that fills the ocean – but that they will happily return once the mess is cleaned up. After a big clean-up effort, the ocean is pristine again, allowing the whales to return home.
The original story, told in simple four-line rhyming stanzas, is a wholesome and whimsical read that delivers a subtle environmental message from a detached, bird’s-eye view. However, rather than preaching, the key lesson is framed as a simple action-consequence situation. It’s not dissimilar to how a parent might tell a child to “put away your toys at bedtime, so that we don’t trip over them in the dark.”
This approach is understandable. For young readers, it is more important to plant the seed of an idea than to bury them in information and hope that something grows.
Barking Gecko Arts’ stage adaptation veers away from the rhyming scheme and zooms in on the story by giving individual characters more weight. This delivers a fully fleshed-out play that invites audience buy-in with relatable personalities.
The play begins its ambitious expansion by turning the young girl in Bland’s book into the protagonist. Frida, played perfectly precociously by Chloe Marlow, kicks off the play by regaling us with a mini lecture series on weird and wonderful sea creatures. Her teacher is dismissive of her Steve Irwin-level exuberance but it does not dampen her spirits in the least. She is so passionate about marine life that she wants to write a book about it.
When she sees whales coming ashore, she hightails it out of class to investigate. She ends up befriending Blue the Whale, played by Dan Buckle. The bond is solid and we see the pair meet up for playdates throughout the production.
Seeing and hearing their interactions (including Buckle’s spot-on whale impersonations) was my favourite part of the show. Frida’s wide-eyed wonder and Blue’s placid yet curious nature make them a magnetic duo onstage. Although they are portrayed as peers, their dynamic reminds me of the bond grandparents have with their grandchildren: where parents are preoccupied with the daily grind, grandparents tend to afford more patience and, in fact, invite endless monologues about their pet subject.
Frida’s well-developed backstory as an amateur marine biologist deepens our investment in this dynamic. Blue isn’t simply a novelty to Frida; we know that she genuinely cares for her Cetacean companion.
Team Whale’s main foe is the mayor (St John Cowcher). He is your typical bureaucrat – cringingly obsessed with being cool. He’s also willing to use public opinion to facilitate an easy way out instead of working towards the best solution for everyone involved. Cowcher’s over-the-top mayor, along with his tall stature, is a visual representation of how overwhelming it must feel for a child to have to go against the establishment.
And here’s where this production effortlessly espouses another equally important message – that no matter how small you are, no matter how little the gains may seem, your voice matters and CAN make a difference.
Frida remains gung-ho throughout the play. Even when the mayor uses the stereotypical local government playbook and implements anti-whale measures, she persists. She advocates for the whales by raising her voice, setting up a petition, even chaining herself to a building. Just when you think all hope is lost, the tide changes because she stayed true to herself and continued spreading her love of the ocean to her community.
This vital message of perseverance and self-belief marries well with Walk of the Whales’ central takeaway. After all, our children will need tough armour to tackle corporate greed and climate change deniers.
At this point, you might think that these two values would make a children’s play feel heavy. However, like Bland’s book, they are so thoughtfully woven that they feel like natural conclusions you would draw from a friend’s retelling, not a tacked-on moral. This is because the points the play makes are given time to breathe. While petitioning is serious business, we can’t help but laugh watching Frida mercilessly chase a cyclist down for his signature. Comic relief also comes from the mayor’s overriding need to feel popular which results in ironically uncool attempts at coolness.
The play also keeps the parable light by leaning into the book’s sense of whimsy. Buckle’s Blue costume looks like an illustration in plush form, reminding us of the play’s early-reader roots. The set design exudes a playful charm: posters are hand-drawn and pops of bright colour bring lightness without the glare. I especially loved the dynamic backdrop. It went beyond being static scenery; it came to life with moving waves and whale stick puppets.
The vibrance of the production was a pleasant surprise, given the book’s comparatively muted colour palette. In fact, the book’s colour scheme was partly why I assumed that Walk of the Whales would translate to a serious play that leaned heavily on environmental activism. I was concerned that my son would fixate on the whales’ plight without fully understanding the power of a single voice.
However, the flourishes – from the catchy disco music to the coloured lights and adorable whales – have breathed new life into the book. Frida’s character and the values she stands for deliver an extra kick to the messaging of the story.
As a result, not only does this production by Barking Gecko Arts build on the lesson Bland started, it also makes the story more engaging for younger audience members. It is a worthwhile watch for all children, whether or not they aspire to be Greta Thunberg.
Walk of the Whales runs twice daily until 3rd October.