My Cat Acted in a Play Before a Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Playwright

The strange story of my cat’s acting debut

Her name was Cassie, and she liked to sleep on my chest.

She also liked watching the Los Angeles Lakers with me, sitting beside me on the sofa and chomping on whatever snack I had on hand for the game.

Cookies, crackers, chips, ice cream, and pizza (though it gave her diarrhea).

She had a swinging side-to-side belly like Deborah Camp’s cat. But the thing I remember the most about her was being in a theatre play.

And this was not just any play, Cassie acted in front of Edward Albee, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.

You know, the guy who wrote Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolf?

It was a university play

My mom entered a one-act play competition as part of her master’s degree at the University of South Dakota where my dad was an administrator.

Albee was to come out to judge the one-act competition, give a speech on being a playwright and hang out with faculty and students at a reception.

I don’t think my mom knew this — this was the pre-internet days — but Edward Albee was a cat person as you can see in the picture below.

And he took note of the usual character — a cat — sitting on the sofa on the set.

My cat’s main role was to do what cats do best: To lay around and nap.

But there were a few lines my mom inserted into the script where the husband and wife talk with my cat, just like pet owners are prone to do with their cats.

My cat’s acting debut

My cat was a good actor. She stayed in her spot unfazed by the audience. I thought she might get overwhelmed, but she kept it cool for the entire play. She never got up and left the stage being overcome with stage fright.

At one point, I thought my cat and I made eye contact and she was going to leap down from the sofa and come over and sit on my lap like she liked to do.

You know, break the fourth wall and do the whole kneading thing. But she was focused on staying in her role, and Albee definitely noticed the cat.

My mom believes the cat contributed to her winning the competition because Albee asked her several questions about my cat at the reception.

“What made you decide to cast a cat in the play?”

“I was trying to make the set feel like being inside a home.”

“Was it difficult to direct a cat?”

“No, she mostly laid around and watched. The cast loved the cat.”

And my favorite question was this one.

“Did you ever work on blocking with the cat?”

“I thought about giving her food to cross the stage.”

My mom surprised me

My mom is 87 years old, and she forgets a lot about her past life, but I noticed she didn’t forget these details when I asked her about my cat being in a play.

As for me, I remember seeing my cat on stage. My mom didn’t tell me a Pulitzer Prize playwright would be in attendance. I don’t know if it would’ve been a big deal back as a teenager, but it would be now as a writer.

All my mom did was ask me if I wanted to see her play. I was a little hesitant, not really being into drama back then, but then my mom bribed me.

“There is someone you know in the play.”

But she didn’t tell me it was my cat, and I couldn’t believe it when I saw her on stage sitting so calm and collected on the stage — just like she did at home.

Final thought

My memory is hazy about this event — I can’t believe I’ve written this much — but I guess the moral is we should never put any limits on our imagination.

If you have a crazy idea like putting a cat in a play, then go for it. When you do something different, that’s what might make you stand out from others.

It could get your creative work noticed … take it from my cat acting in a play. My mom says the cat gave her the edge over five other well-directed plays.

And, of course, I’ll never forget seeing my cat up on stage. It’s the one memory I think of when I remember Cassie. That and eating snacks with me watching the Los Angles Lakers’ games.

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