Death and the Cat, Drayton Arms Theatre Review
Photo by @kingadulka.photo
Written by Charlotte for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
What if Death himself had a faithful companion in the form of a pet cat? That is the simple question behind Robert Emlyn Slater’s debut play Death and the Cat. Even the Reaper himself is not one for solitude, having overseen the passing on of souls since the dawn of humanity with a talking black cat by the name of Panther at his side. Of course, a cat’s curiosity is the recipe that leads to certain disaster, driving a wedge between Death and his lifetime friend and throwing the operations of the afterlife into disarray.
Slater’s sense of storytelling is undeniably charming. His comedy strikes an apt balance between whimsy and darkness, approaching the unfathomable truths of human existence with the comfortable, bantering tone of a sitcom. Like any good sitcom, Death and the Cat’s absurdist humour is carried by its excellent cast. Death, for his part, is a gangly figure played with a healthy dose of deadpan by Rowland Stirling. Neither menacing nor calming, Stirling plays a Reaper who is near at odds with his looming persona, cast into a role over which he has little control and set adrift without the grounding presence of his dear pet. Rosalie Evans brings an effective yet not overplayed physicality to Panther, adapting the fluid movements of a cat without resorting to pantomime. And of course, what afterlife comedy would be complete without some appropriately unhinged characters from hell. Lydia Cashman’s mini-skirt and space-bun sporting Satan dials the energy straight to eleven, hovering just at the limit of over-the-top even for a play about Death’s pet cat. She is balanced beautifully, though, by Lanre Danmola’s stoic angel of death. Blink and you’ll miss it, but the carefully played expressions are a perfect moment of quiet comedy.
Overall, Death and the Cat has surprisingly good bones for a debut play, especially at a full, two-act runtime of just over two hours. The mystical scale of purgatory brings with it high stakes and generally swift pacing, though act two does begin to sag under the weight of its sentimentality toward the end. If its direction falters anywhere, it’s likely in the tendency to rely on near-screaming to land its climactic moments, which can edge toward painful in an intimate space. Still, while perhaps not a revolutionary take on a cartoony afterlife adventure, Death and the Cat is packed with enjoyability – silly and sincere, it’s good fun with a touch of heart, a genuine success of a playwriting debut.
At Drayton Arms Theatre until 30 November 2024
★★★★
