Cats

Last week my Sister and I went to see Cats at the city theatre royal.  Neither of us were particularly ‘up’ on the show, like most we knew the song Memory and Magical Mister Mistoffelees [yes I had to google for the spelling], but other than that we were at a loss.  I was aware it was strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot’s Old Possom’s Book Of Practical Cats, but had never read the book.

The set was a brilliant set of rubbish even cascading over the edge, little did we know that the cats would frequently run from the stage over the front and up the aisle.  The cast were amazing, such a simple word for what was an awesome performance, it was balletic, acrobatic, contemporary with nods back to the chorus line days, it was energized without being frantic, it was calm without being dull.  You can only but wonder at the fitness and stamina of each dancer as they hold position almost better than the Russian State Ballet dancers I saw in February.  The agility and nuances of movement were the fine detailing, they seemed to have that enviable ability as cats do to balance on a pin head and defy gravity while looking so serene and a little smug.

There is not a story as such, it does not follow a plot but it is a collection of different styles of cats, their antics and their cattitudes.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

As we drove home, we had to stop at some traffic lights in the city and there sat a cat, waiting for the green man [or the beeps] before trotting across the road and he sat and waited for the next lot too.