presented
October 2009


For the first time in our almost ten year run, Off the Wall Theatre presented a hystarical farce, Georges Feydeau's "Cat Among the Pigeons". "Cat" is a fast paced french farce first performed in 1894 under the name "Un Fil A La Patte". The story concerns a man (Bois D' Enghein) who needs to break things off with his lover (Lucette) so he can marry another (Marceline). Sounds easy enough. Unfortunately, the woman he wants to get rid of has also attracted the eye of a Spanish General, a jealous and dangerous man who realizes the only way to Lucette's heart is to kill the man she loves. What is a Bois to do? He frames another man (Bouzin) as her lover and tries to step back as the insanity ensues. Add in sisters, mothers, butlers, maids, ex-husbands, lawyers, and 6 slamming doors to the pot and you have the makings of a classic French farce. 

In this production we were joined by a collection of OTW regulars and a few newcomers who are no strangers to to the art of comedy. As the Bois D' Enghein we had Mark Hagen. Mark has appeared in numerous Off the Wall productions, among them "Die Mommie Die" and "The Lady In Question". As the object of his love Lucette, we had a newcomer to Off the Wall, but not a newcomer to farce, Ruth Arnell. Ruth has starred in many a comedy at Sunset Playhouse including "Noises Off" and "The Seven Year Itch". Karl Miller played the General. Karl is well known to audiences from his comedic turns in OTW shows like "Frogs", "Holiday Punch", and "Death On The Nile". Liz Mistele and Kurtis Witzelsteiner fresh off our production of "Company" joined them in the roles of Marceline and Bouzin respectively. Both performers have been featured in numerous OTW shows like "Threepenny Opera", "The Vortex", and "Hamlet". Other regulars included Larry Lukasavage, Donna Lobacz, Tom Welcenbach, David Kaye, Natasha Mortazavi, Avi Borouchoff, and Michael Davis. New to our theatre was Sandra Stark, Amie Lynn, and Deanna Champan. 

Our set designer David Roper took on the task of transforming our intimate space into not one or two sets but three. Each act had a unique configuration to help capture the scope of the french farce. This production was directed by Jeremy C. Welter, who, when not performing with the company, directed "The Shadow Box" in May.