The Cat in the Hat

For a book designed to help children to read, The Cat in the Hat has had a rich life ex-libris. First it was made into a film and then Katie Mitchell adapted it for the National Theatre’s stage. Were that other staple of 1950s literacy aids, Janet and John, ever to be receive a theatrical incarnation, I imagine they would conduct themselves much better than Dr Seuss’s fun-focussed feline. There’s not much good behaviour in this noisy revival of National Theatre production, but then what can you expect from a world where balls (real and imaginary) squeak, honk, and fart; hand puppet fish gawp orgasmically; and bubbles rain down from the ceiling?

Ashley Bates is purringly camp in the title role, and, as Thing One and Thing Two, Richard Dipper and Andrew Beckett are anarchy personified, expertly strutting that oh-so-delightful line between frightening and funny. If at times they seem a mite pervy, it all adds to the fun. 

In fact, the production is at its best when the anarchy on stage tips over into the auditorium. I won’t give away any of the play’s surprises but I did, briefly, end up desperately ducking for safety while children rioted in the aisles (parents, be very afraid).

This is a lively retelling of Dr Seuss’s classic, the physical theatre is deftly managed, and although the children took a while to warm up (I was with the children on this), by the end they had been entirely won over.