Le Chat Noir embraces irreverent, slightly deranged love story
Valerie Emerick
Le Chat Noir is known for showcasing irreverent theater productions and giving a voice to expressions of dark humor. “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty,” the performance that opens this week, is no exception and will ensure that Le Chat’s irreverent reputation remains intact.
“‘Kitty, Kitty, Kitty’ is about a suicidal housecat named Kitty, who was used as a lab experiment for the first cloned housecat,” explains Duane Brown, the director of the play. “Kitty falls in love with his clone (named Kitty, Kitty) but that love is not reciprocated and once he understands that it will never be reciprocated he goes on to make other clones so that he can get the love he is searching for.”
But there’s a catch. Something goes wrong in the cloning process, and as he makes more copies of himself, each one turns out less intelligent than the last. The final clone, Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty, communicates in nothing but grunts and yells and drool.
I know what you’re thinking. It sounds a little like “Multiplicity,” right? Brown laughs and groans at the mention of the film.
“Yeah… it’s kind-of in the same vein of Multiplicity,” he says, “but I’ve been trying to get people to not make that comparison because this is more debaucherous than that.”
It’s definitely not the play to bring the kids to, or even some of the more delicate adults. Mickey Lay, who plays Mr. Person, the owner of Kitty Kitty, remarks, “It’s almost a comedy of errors but it’s really grotesque — I hope people get a good laugh. It’s a very funny show, but it’s really raunchy… and it’s one of those things we’re trying to balance. We’ve changed a few things. We wanted to keep it funny instead of pushing it to the point where it makes people uncomfortable. It’s a really fun show — it’s by no means high art, but it’s fun and there’s a good laugh in there for everybody — and all the characters have their own bit that they bring in.”
“One of the really cool things about this play,” says Brown, “is that I think it speaks to people on all levels because there’s a sense of longing-ness that one feels, especially when they try to gain acceptance from another. We all in our lives need that kind of justification that someone recognizes our existence that at least validates it. So I think that’s the general message to it… We’re all really alone until we have that acceptance.”
“Kitty, Kitty, Kitty”
Le Chat Noir | September 14-15, 20-22 | 8 p.m.
706-722-3322 | lcnaugusta.comYou Might Also Like:
Here, Kitty
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