I want to start off by saying there are a lot of things to like about this production - the costumes are beautifully done, and the minimalist set works very well. The acting is commendable, with actors fully committing to their cat personas and a lot of cute stage business happening between the kittens throughout. Director Jilian Tolzmann made great use of the space with such a minimal set, and Cole Breckell is magnetic as our grieving, tortured cat protagonist. However, there are a few issues that I think are keeping this show from being truly great. To start with, the internal logic of the show's world is quite inconsistent. The cats seem to be in some kind of purgatory before birth/after death, but other cats describe having their TED talks after they're born and before they're adopted. I think if this show fully leaned into being a kid's show and tried less to explain how the world works, it would be a much simpler and stronger story. This has the bones of being a show for kids about how it's good to talk about things that make you sad, or that it's okay to grieve, or just... something. As it is, the show isn't really about anything. None of the characters grow or change, and the plot is just a structure to hang a therapeutic facade of a show onto.

The script feels like a first draft that wasn't quite ready for a full Fringe production. There's a fine line between shows being artistically personal and shows being uncomfortably personal. This was the latter. I very much felt like I was watching someone's private grieving process more than I was watching a polished show. A three minute slideshow with an original song ground the action to a halt right at the climax of the show, with the intensely personal choice to include a few photos of the real Lucky's urn and cremation certificate. Again - some things might be better off private.

The evening I watched, they had a few distracting production/tech issues. Audience members could see cast members peeking through the curtain pre-show, and not in character as their kittens. The confusing clock projection disappeared at one point to be replaced by their QLab file appearing briefly. The ticking of the clock was often louder than the actors themselves.

Overall, it was clear that this show was one person's baby, and it would have been vastly improved with some honest dramaturgy and few edits. It sold a lot of tickets because it was a palatable show that, as another reviewer said, didn't ask the audience to think too hard about anything. Bring your kids!