MAYA AND THE WHALE
Lyth Arts Centre is delighted to announce that a double bill of new shows for young people by Hazel Darwin-Clements has been selected for the first ever ‘Splore‘ tour of North Scotland.
Hazel, and a creative team that includes Fay Guiffo, Mamoru Iriguchi, Andy Cannon, Nik Paget-Tomlinson, Lewis Hetherington and Independent Arts Projects (IAP), will develop and tour a double bill of Maya and the Whale, a play for young audiences, alongside Ideas Jukebox, a new interactive performance which merges participation and live music.
Splore, the North Scotland Children’s Theatre and Dance Network is a new consortium of venues and organisations across the region who have come together with the shared ambition of building relationships with families and young audiences in rural areas of North Scotland. As a collective, we aim to do this through programming high quality children’s theatre and dance, with wraparound activities, additional marketing resources and meaningful, tailored accessibility. The project will also explore more ecologically sustainable and regenerative touring models.
Premiering at Lyth Arts Centre on Sunday 31st August, the tour will visit The Barn in Banchory, Mareel in Shetland, Eden Court in Inverness, the Macphail Centre in Ullapool, SEALL in Skye, Universal Hall in Findhorn and more. Please see full listings below.
Lyth Arts Centre, Caithness – Sunday 31st August
10am, Ideas Jukebox
2pm, Maya and the Whale
Universal Hall, Findhorn – Thursday 4th September
3pm, Ideas Jukebox
7pm, Maya and the Whale
The Barn, Banchory – Wednesday 10th September
9:30am, Ideas Jukebox
1:30pm, Maya and the Whale
Mareel, Shetland – Saturday 13th September
11am, Ideas Jukebox (0-5 years)
3pm, Maya and the Whale
Mareel, Shetland – Sunday 14th September
11am, Ideas Jukebox (5-10 years)
3pm, Maya and the Whale
St. Magnus Centre, Kirkwall – Friday 19th September
3pm, Ideas Jukebox
6:30pm, Maya and the Whale
Timespan, Helmsdale – Sunday 21st September
11am, Ideas Jukebox
4pm, Maya and the Whale
We will shortly be announcing new tour dates for 2026!
If you have any questions, please contact info@lytharts.org.uk
IDEAS JUKEBOX
Charlotte Mountford from LAC said ‘this project has been a long time in development and was really born from a huge desire of colleagues across the North of Scotland to improve and increase access to high quality theatre and dance for our babies, children and young people. It’s been great working in partnership with these diverse venues and organisations to develop this ambition. As a consortium, we were really excited by Hazel’s work and particularly the environmental themes. We expect there to be lots of learning for all involved and for the wider sector.’
The project is funded by Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance. Sheena Miller of the Rural Touring Agency is acting as tour producer. Lyth Arts Centre are the lead partner of the consortium.
To find out more, see tour dates and book tickets, please visit https://lytharts.org.uk/splore
