What are you supposed to do when your friends, family and the general population all seem to like your british shorthair cat more than you? Well if you're Clara Cupcakes, you make a show about it. The multi-disciplined, multi-award nominated comedian is taking audiences on an absurdly surreal trip with her new Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Gretchen.
Considering how much of a fun loving bubble of energy and positivity Clara is, it's surprising to hear that her cat receives more attention than her. So, who exactly is Gretchen? "Gretchen is my horrible, no good, grumpy and adorable cat whom I adore despite her being utterly awful," she admits. "I’m making a show about her because she is infinitely more popular than I am so I’m giving the people what they want. It’s honestly ridiculous. Both my housemate and I get more engagement on photos and videos when we post content of Gretchen than any of our own work. I was in Perth recently and I had a drag queen that I don’t even know rush up to me and ask “WHO IS LOOKING AFTER GRETCHEN?!”."
Have you ever wondered what
your pets get up to when you’re not home? In the absurdist comedy Let Meowt!, every act you’ve suspected your pets of doing but were unable to accuse them of is proven true when
two cats find themselves locked in their owner’s bathroom. Created and
performed by Catherine Holder and Laura Moran, the show is a wacky attempt at what happens when animals go wild while examining the odd behavior of humans, but it is
unable to get there.
Holder and Moran remain committed
in their impersonations of cats,
with movement, facial expression and voice being constant and in line with what
you would imagine a human playing a cat would look and sound like. Their
costumes are simple but one glaring omission is the lack of tails on Cinnamon
and Pepper.
The performances might be amusing but unfortunately the rest of this production does not fare up as well. Cinnamon
and Pepper may be locked in a bathroom but there is no narrative progression,
no suspense and very little comedy. There are many moments that should be funny
but the humour never lands or it becomes repetitive; there’s only so long one can
watch cats scratching maniacally at a door or discovering the strange items their owner uses on her face and body.
