Comedy/ 12 Characters, 2 Men, 2 Women playing multiple parts or 7 Men, 5 Women/ Full Length, Two Acts
Synopsis:
A Disney-like kingdom in the mountains. To escape its wicked queen, a particularly uncharming Prince Charming turns into a cat and is confronted with the horrors of modern existence: poverty, political foment, frustrated passion and urban solitude.
Without a word, often without his consent, the cat is used as long-lost lover, departed family, friend who’d never betray you . . . and shrink who eases anxiety with his unblinking stare.Fantasy and reality collide. Fairy-tale princess, pathetic steno-typist, queen, dropout, sado-maso, travelling salesman are brought together by the cat catalyst.Paradoxically, the Prince, as a cat, becomes more of a human being. But at what price?
“Written with humour, freshness, will charm cat lovers and non-cat lovers alike.”
– Figaro“A charming and witty comedy turning around a humane, philosophical cat. Sheer delight.”
– L’Avant-Scène Théâtre“You don’t have to be a cat lover to enjoy this very tasty comedy . . . . Alan Rossett writes about love and politics with lots of humour and a refreshing innocence.”
– Quotidien de Paris“A delirious irresistible, hilariously funny fairy tale.”
– Femme d’Aujourd’hui“In a dreamy style all his own, Alan Rossett writes charming plays in which fantasy is matched up to tenderness. An adorable evening in the theatre.”
– Figaro Magazine
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Alan Rossett
91, rue Nollet
75017 Paris
France
Ph.: O1 7375 57 65
Email: rossdoal@aol.com
About the Playwright: “Cocteau meets Woody Allen” was film-director Jean Delannoy’s comment on Alan Rossett, the only American to have French language plays produced regularly in France . . . and to receive awards from the Centre National des Lettres. Born in Detroit, he began his career as an actor in New York, where he appeared for a season with the Living Theatre and also as James Earl Jones’ first Iago. Relocating in Paris, he wrote and directed an evocation of Montmartre Light and Shade with Charles Boyer. Then his comedyHigh Time went from London to Sydney to New York (at the Actors Studio) and wound up, translated, in a Parisian cafe theatre before transferring to La Bruyere, a Broadway category house.Rossett made the language cross-over into French with two plays set in restaurants which he staged in the midst of diners at a show biz hang-out, running 200 performances. Many other productions followed of his French-language plays, including How It Happened, Cat As Cat Can, Love On Ice, Calamity Jane. Au Pair Girls premiered in Paris and was revived successfully at the Avignon Festival where it was nominated for a PIAF as comedy of the year.His French plays are published by Avant-Scene Theatre, Editions des quatre-vents, Editions Art et Comedie et Librairie Theatrale. He has adapted into English many of his own works as well as a series of plays by colleagues that have received grants from the Beaumarchais Association of the French Author’s Society. Rossett has done English versions as well of Alain Decaux’s historical pagaents (Chateau Blois Comes To Life and De Gaulle: the Man Who Said NO. As an actor, he has appeared in films of Marcel Carné, Woody Allen, and over 50 others.Cat As Cat Can was premiered in Paris, France in 1988 at the Théâtre Essaïon in its original French version entitled Chat Qui Peut. The French text is published by Editions Art et Comédie
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“The laughs are constant but under them, an exploration in depth as to why human beings share their lives with animals.”
– Astre“An enchanted voyage, tender, biting, absolutely delightful.”
– Radio G