Relationships aren’t always about comfort and stability. They’re also about facing reality and being pushed to grow beyond your comfort zone. That’s the theme at the heart of the upcoming production from the Woods Hole Theater Company, "The Owl and the Pussycat," the 60’s Broadway hit with a title that pays homage to a beloved children’s poem.
The story of the play, however, is decidedly not for children.
“I may be a prostitute, but I’m not promiscuous,” announces model/actress/prostitute Doris, played by Louise Patrick, the female in this two-person adult comedy. As a result of being kicked out by her landlord for turning tricks, she lands in the apartment of the man who snitched on her in the first place: Felix Sherman, played by WCAI’s Dan Tritle.
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Doris is the big bad wolf to Felix’s house of bricks. She’s not going to let him stay walled off.
“He’s in his own little shell,” said Tritle of his character. “Doris is an observer who’s very intelligent. Felix realizes that, but doesn’t want to open up to reveal his flaws.”
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Instead, Felix protects himself with insults: “I won’t be tyrannized in my own home by an ignorant whore!” he blasts.
But Doris isn’t easily scared off. She eventually wears down his owlish reserve. What follows is the tricky dance of two opposites who realize each has something the other needs.
Director Don Dutton said he chose the script because “it’s a little bit edgy, but I also wanted something that would be light. I want people to escape and have a good time.”
The play is being put on as a night of dinner theatre at Diane’s Restaurant (formerly ) in East Falmouth on the last weekend of February and at the on Jones Road in Falmouth on the first weekend in March.
“This is our eighth dinner theatre production,” said Dutton, “but we haven’t ventured out of Woods Hole in 37 years.” He added that they were looking to “spread the show around to accommodate more venues.”
With just two actors and a single set, it’s a mobile play. Its power lies not in elaborate theatrics but in the relatability of its characters’ situations.
“Nobody knows me,” reflects Doris, “What if I don’t even know me?”
The Owl and the Pussycat, for all its laughs, delivers a stark message: It’s hard to bridge our insecurities to make a relationship work, but, if we don’t, we risk going through life essentially unknown.
For more information about the production, visit the Woods Hole Theater Company's website.
