The Cat in the Hat

Review by: Paul Towers, 14 December 2018

The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, adapted by Katie Mitchell

A Curve & Rose Theatre, Kingston co-production

Curve 8 December 2018 – 12 January 2019 and then touring

“The Cat in the Hat IS all that!”

Dr Seuss is America’s answer to Roald Dahl, writing anarchic, funny books for young readers. In Dr Seuss’ case he aims to encourage pre-schoolchildren to read by using big bright pictures and simple verses and prose.

This musical play, originally produced by The National Theatre, is a lively mix of songs, dances and magic tricks all told in a fun, simplistic way to appeal to all ages from 2 years upwards. Starting with Sam Angell as Boy bouncing on stage and exhorting the audience to join in and sing along with him, this afternoon’s pretty full house of mainly pre-schoolers was immediately playing along. And then when Mellissa Lowe as his sister Sally joined him and they had a water fight with SuperSoakers over our heads, the squeals of delight and excitement reached fever pitch.

The story, such as it is, involves Sally and her brother being bored on a rainy afternoon. Conjuring up the legendary Cat in the Hat (Nana Amoo-Gottfired) mayhem ensues as he introduces Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Celia Francis and Robert Penny) into the mix. All three of them display great circus skills, not surprising as the show is created in conjunction with The National Centre for Circus Acts. While the two Things bounce around, up and over the set like hyperactive acrobats, The Cat is the magical ringmaster of the chaos.

The music of Tasha Taylor Johnson was, at times, a little loud but all the actors were amplified so nothing was missed. Charley Magalit as Fish had the most beautiful singing voice, especially as half the time she was encased in a Zorb ball rolling around the stage. The set by Isla Shaw was designed to look like a line drawing waiting to be coloured in and had several surprises built into it.

This is a short show, two 30 minute halves with a 20 minute interval, so is ideal for youngsters with short attention spans. Several of the children today were obviously on the spectrum and were wearing muffling headphones but this didn’t seem to detract from their enjoyment of the performance.

With three shows a day on most show days this is a short, snappy festive treat for even the youngest fans. There are especially relaxed performances on Saturday 22^nd December and Sunday 6 January

All in all The Cat in the Hat IS all that!

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