EdFringe Review: Taiwan Season: Whale, Where Are You Going?

How I love children’s theatre, which unfolds from a relatively simple beginning into a grander adventure. Well, this is precisely what S. Production’s ‘Whale, Where Are You Going?’ does, and does well. Part of the Taiwan Season at this year’s Fringe, it tells the curious tale of one old man’s rediscovery of youthful joy and imagination, by way of helpful fairies, a Pinocchio-esque little boy, and a mysterious whale.

It begins with a most mysterious shadow puppet prologue following one spiky-haired young man’s encounter with a whale in untold deeps. The play, absent of any dialogue, guards its secrets well, and never fully explains them – leaving it to your imagination to fill in the blanks.

This is a brave, arresting approach, but one which may play a little more to adult sensibilities than those of audiences in single digits. A little more signposting, particularly on the role of the whale in proceedings, would strengthen the story’s capacity to hook overall.

Some of this may be down to its steeply raked venue space being less than perfect for a show designed to break out from the stage. Despite this, ‘Whale, Where Are You Going’ is a beautiful production, carried off with no small degree of skill.

The physical action begins with sunrise on stage, and an awakening old man, grey-haired and going through the motions. It’s a gently comedic scene, full of groans and cramping calves as he tries to get his socks on. He spends his day reading the newspaper and listening to relaxing music, and then goes to sleep.

“The play, told entirely through highly accomplished physical theatre and puppetry and no dialogue, guards its mystery well, and never fully explains it – leaving it to your imagination to fill in the blanks.“

It seems, however, that our down-at-heel hero has lucked into some friendly faeries in dungarees who come out at night to tidy up – but when they find a curious tin hidden in a box, they get ideas. Soon enough, their grey-haired charge can’t escape the tin which the pair continually conspire to place in his path.

When he goes to extreme lengths not to open it, they find the instructions for making a boy (yes, a boy), and set to work with needle and power tools. The next morning, Mr Grey Hair finds he no longer lives alone…

The swift escalation of matters once our wooden boy comes into play is just fantastic. He’s a naughty presence, determined to disrupt the old man’s life, wonderfully puppeted by our erstwhile faeries. Substantial in size, he interacts with the world fully and without constraint.

Not content to leave things as an odd-couple comedy, the S. Productions team has them both embark on a lively journey into a world of wonder and imagination, which only ramps up when the kid finds the old chap’s unopened tin. Matters culminate in a wondrous finale, ambitious beyond anything I’d expected to point.

It’s the playful joy powering its accomplished blend of puppetry, physical theatre and practical effects, which makes ‘Whale, Where Are You Going?’ such a memorable show. It’s certainly a lovely way to start a day at this year’s Fringe, and I heartily recommend it.