The King of Cats

Writer: Oisin Robbins. Performer: Aron Hegarty. Run time: 14.30 mins.

 

“rumours of my death have been greatly overblown”

This fiery, brilliant, opening line sets the tone for King of Cats, a monologue that is delivered at full force from beginning to end. It is clear that the speaker is full of anger and his words are like spitting bullets. His first words are angry, furious poetry, delivered at speed. We soon realise the play is referencing Romeo and Juliet. The speaker is Tybalt, recently awoken after one month in a coma. Bit by bit the story unravels but from the off it is clear that others, friends and enemies alike, didn’t know he had survived, so his opening line is also his reintroduction back into the land of the living.

King of Cats takes a light and shines it on a part of Romeo and Juliet that is usually brushed over: the men feuding, fighting, killing and dying. There is an intricate web of revenge between the two houses and a pool of pain that remains even after Romeo has exited the picture. King of Cats is raw and visceral. Tybalt acknowledges he does not have the skills for peace but really, he also doesn’t have the desire for it either. When he talks about killing the rat (a nice Irish reference) his face contorts, teeth bared, rat like, manipulating his face to express his anger, distaste and thinking. Throughout he is drinking from a can and taking pain medication and over time we also start to see the passion, love and regret that lies beneath his words. This doesn’t however, dim the fire in his eyes. He calls himself the prince of cats, the man with nine lives, a title he ‘redeemed from mockery’, but will he settle with this or will he take the crown to become the king of cats, the great rat catcher.

His near-death experience only inflamed his anger and desire to seek vengeance. Tybalt is taking a certain amount of joy in his anger and bile, in preparing his revenge “dear Ben [Benvolio]. You’re a snitch yet I’m the one that got stitches”. He refuses Benvolio’s olive branch and plans to extend their feuding. They make use of voice notes and texts rather than letters, so act quickly on their feelings. This is fresher for Tybalt, newly awake. He can’t bear that he was beaten and one wonders if he is angry also at the world moving on around him while he lay in his hospital bed.

Several times see movement in the kitchen behind him. The two people, presumably his parents, are pottering about clearing up after dinner, under the bright glow of 100W bulbs. This helps to show how normal life continues, and did continue during Tybalt’s absence. In contrast he is sat outside alone in the dark. Some light from the kitchen filters through. There is a slight orange glow, which along with the light from his cigarette and his phone is the only light that hits him. One wonders if his parents inside know how Tybalt intends to spend his coming days?

This is a brilliant piece of lockdown theatre. The delivery is always on point and Hegarty fills the character with life. One couldn’t imagine anyone else taking on this role. This is enabled by the intricate story telling from Robbins. King of Cats is full of twists, turns, intrigue and drama, with echoes of the gangland stories we read in the papers and watch on TV. A 5* powerful tour de force piece of storytelling.