There's more to Cattywompus than a dog suit
Dogs are people too.
Welcome to Cheap Seats, where every Thursday we’ll talk to folks behind the scenes of the stage events opening around town, in order to give you a flavor of the productions that won’t be found in any of the promo materials.
Cattywompus, Broom Street Theater (Jan. 15-Feb. 21)
Promo pull-quote: “Mike is getting married in a few days and he has more things to worry about than cold feet—how to survive a Bridezilla, a brother with multiple personalities, a mischievous dog, a mother and her stoner nursing home friends, awkward turtles, and more. Mike is definitely going to have his hands full as it seems that everything is bound to go Cattywompus!”
What it’s really about: Once you get past the avalanche of wackiness, Cattywompus is, at heart, about family. “Families are crazy and they’re going to throw things at you you’re not expecting, but in the end, they’ll be there for you,” says co-writer Justin Lawfer. “There are a lot of other little different things as well: learning to be true to yourself, and the fact that life doesn’t haven’t stop when you’re 60.”
Fun fact: An actor in a dog suit is always a risky move. Even in a play that relies heavily on the absurd, it has the potential to push it into territory where the audience focuses only on the goofiness and misses the underlying messages. Lawfer says they were careful in designing the character so it functions essentially like another human. “We made sure you could see [the actor’s] face. Even though he doesn’t talk, there’s no makeup. We push it as far as we can without it being an actual person.”
Best reason to try it: The fact that Cattywompus has been running since the middle of January is actually a good thing. Lawfer says the actors have gotten comfortable in their roles and with each other to the point where they’re now improvising, creating a much richer production. “There’s a lot of physicality in the play, and you can see now where they’re dropping some of our original stage directions and doing things to elevate the show. There are a lot of touching moments under the humor, and it’s changed for the better.”
