Fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s furry feline fantasia Cats (are there many left after the film version?) might cough up a furball at the irreverent treatment it receives in Cat the Play, showing this week at Bath’s cosy Ustinov Studio.
Photo © Theatre Royal Bath
For the rest of us, this 90-minute theatrical diary of one man’s determination to be in the moggy musical, and the consequences of getting there, is a madcap delight, both surreal and gritty, musical and dramatic, comedic and tragic.
The savvy script by Jamie Beamish and Richard Kieswick tells the fictitious star-struck story of Dave, who eschews a career in his pun-tastic father’s paper factory in favour of an actor’s life in West End musicals.
Cast initially as Christ’s donkey in Jesus Christ Superstar, his role is sadly cut on opening night, an unfortunate decision which is repeated with his sophomore casting as Evita’s llama.
But by now he deludedly name-drops “Andy” Lloyd Webber as a friend, and when the latter seemingly decides to write his next musical Cats specially for Dave, it seems as if his career is finally looking rosy.
In this one-man show, co-author Kieswick plays the dreamy but hapless Dave with endless energy, morphing with alacrity from nifty dance sequences to witty songs to poignant moments, all clad in his tatty grey lycra Cats costume and mangy wig.
He is like the feline love-child of Jimmy Carr and Joe Lycett, but raised on Jim Carrey movies. It’s an impressive feat, especially when he has only a solitary chair for company on stage, and he was rewarded on press night with a standing ovation.
The script too is insightful and clever, highlighting the tragically cut-throat nature of show biz whilst simultaneously clearly loving musicals, often shoe-horning selected lyrics from different shows into dialogue or songs for theatre nerds to spot.
And the running gags, such as the “most important part of a dancer’s toolkit”, raise big laughs between the sad and eventually dark spots. A uniquely catty show, and one to remain in the Memory.
Cat the Play is showing at Ustinov Studio in Bath until 11th January. Box office: 01225 448844.
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Reviewer: Steve Huggins
