1) ‘THE AMAZING ACRO-CATS’ The performing cats wandered freely through the audience, making the whole theatre their set.
2) ‘THE HEAD’ (Connor Hopkins for Trouble Puppet Theater) The staging area provided levels upon levels, with intricate, handmade puppets for kitty to maul if she became bored.
3) ’33 VARIATIONS’ (Cliff Simon for Zach Theatre) How was there not a cat lurking in those cavernous archives?
4) ‘NOISES OFF’ (Patrick Crowley for Austin Playhouse) Disregard the slamming doors, if you can, and relish in the many hiding places for actors and felines alike.
5) ‘FIXING KING JOHN’ (Thomas Graves, Madge Darlington for Rude Mechanicals) Platforms rigged for actors and audience made ideal scratching posts.
6) ‘INTIMATE APPAREL’ (Jocelyn Pettway for UT Department of Theatre & Dance) Several detailed scenes existed together onstage, with beautiful fabrics waiting to be peed on and shredded.
7) ‘RED’ (David Utley for Penfold Theatre Company) A thoughtful, realistic treatment of Mark Rothko’s art studio provided hiding spaces and paint cans in abundance.
8) ‘FAT PIG’ (Patrick and Holly Crowley for Theatre en Bloc) Shifting platforms are great entertainment, provided you don’t catch your tail in the rails.
9) ‘MAD BEAT HIP & GONE’ (Michael Raiford for Zach Theatre) Dark lighting made the catwalks all the more appealing to a true cat.
10) ‘DIAL “M” FOR MURDER’ (Ian Loveall for UT Department of Theatre & Dance) Nothing like a fancy English parlor with fine furniture if you’re looking to shed.
This article appears in 2013.