Cat in the Hat
Adapted by Katie Mitchell
Larry Clark Summer Rep, 2022
Everyone's favorite cat comes to mischievous life in Katie Mitchell’s adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic The Cat in the Hat! Sally and Boy are stuck inside on a rainy day, when The Cat arrives and wonderful chaos ensues! Ignoring the warnings of The Fish, The Cat, Thing 1, and Thing 2 create quite a mess. Will Sally and Boy be able to clean it all up before Mother comes home?
Cat in the Hat travelled to the spaces of multiple local community partners in Columbia, MO including The Moving Ahead Program, The Thompson Center, and the Daniel Boone Library
Director's Note
The Cat in the Hat remains a timeless classic beloved by generations past and present. It is a story that reminds me to find the joy, the ridiculous, the positive, and the possibility in every day. How lucky is our team that we get to play make-believe every rehearsal? But imagination is not just for children, imagination is the lifeblood of creativity, and creativity is the foundation of change.
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This production comes on the heels of controversy surrounding Dr. Seuss and the racist depictions of marginalized groups in some of his books. We recognize and condemn these portrayals. The MU Department of Theatre and by extension the Larry Clark Summer Repertory Theatre stand firm in their commitment to producing inclusive and anti-racist work on their stages. This work continues with our production of Cat in the Hat. We have cultivated a space for actors and audiences of all ages, races, genders, sexualities, abilities etc. to bring their authentic selves to this show and share in laughter and camaraderie with one another.
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The Cat in the Hat may be a story you remember for the Cat’s shenanigans, or the wild abandon of Thing 1 and Thing 2, or perhaps the zany invention of the Clean Up Machine. For me, I grasp onto the ways these characters make the impossible possible. How the Cat can stack so much on his hat while balancing on one foot on a ball. How Sally and Boy are able to clean up all the mess before Mother comes home. How the Fish manages to stay alive whether in a bowl, in the air, or in a teapot. Imagination creates the conditions for possibilities, and new possibilities may orient us toward radical new futures. We hope you lean into the hilarity of this show, and join us in imagining not just the wacky dream-world of this play, but of better real-life worlds yet to come.