PREVIEW
The Trouble with Cats
By Gary Ray Stapp
Thursdays to Saturdays from Feb. 3 to 19
Produced in arrangement with Heuer Publishing
www.stalberttheatre.com
Tickets (before taxes) are $60, or $55 for seniors and students. Group rates, as well as season tickets, are also available.
Run time: 125 minutes
To purchase tickets, call 780-222-0102 or visit stalberttheatre.com.
The newest offering from the St. Albert Dinner Theatre company is difficult for one of its two directors to describe. Is The Trouble with Cats a farce? Is it a comedy of manners, or errors, or both? For a play about some very disparate couples coming together in a rental suite because of a clerical error, the opportunities for horror and psychological drama exist just as easily.
“It’s a dramedy,” was Bob Beddow’s quick response before a hesitation made him rethink the think piece ahead. “Well… it’s a tough one to describe.”
“It's the story of two polar opposite couples house-sitting the same house, dealing with each other, nosy neighbours, and an odd construction crew, all the while trying to answer the question, ‘What's a PJ?’”
The play, written by Gary Ray Stapp, takes its cue from a thoroughly modern problem. If people can book their vacation stays on websites — and websites are not infallible — then a double-booking is possible. Can you imagine showing up at your lakefront cabin getaway with your partner only to discover another couple already arrived to occupy the space for the same time?
What’s worse: there are other people there, too.
The intricate plot follows an experienced house-sitting couple as they land on site. They are older, wealthier, and dare I say sophisticated. Shortly thereafter, they are met by their new and unexpected roommates: younger and earthier perhaps, with their vegan, anti-materialistic ways. If Odd Couple was about two male roommates who didn’t share the same personality type, then The Trouble with Cats could be thought of as odd couples.
Things get even stranger when the four are soon joined by the annoying neighbours. That, plus the live-in trio of sisters make their presences and personalities known. The only creature that behaves itself is the titular cat; however, it avoids the crowded house with much success.
All of these personality conflicts will certainly make for a wild and entertaining performance for the audience, if not the cast as well. Sparks will fly and characters might even fly off the handle under such duress.
The well-regarded play is considered highly entertaining, but it still serves up the possibility of deeper notes on human behaviour. It toys with our pre-conceived notions of who people are based primarily on our first impressions. Self-realizations are in the cards for the motley crew, and that pleases Beddow. The Beaumont stand-up comic plays one of the parts on stage in addition to being co-director along with the more experienced and locally familiar Rob Beeston.
“I think it shows how people from so very different walks of life can learn to get along. It's a comedy,” he continued, again hesitating to concretely describe The Trouble with Cats. “It's mostly comedy with a little bit of seriousness."
