Solid acting not enough to save "Cat's Paw" by Strollers Theatre

September 11, 2009

3:22 PM

What the message is isn't ever clear.

The challenge with reviewing a show like Strollers Theatre's latest,

But the writing eventually becomes more self-consciously concerned with trying to pose profound questions about the role of the media, and she too starts to behave inconsistently and inorganically in service to the show's message. What that message is isn't ever clear -- there are far too many half-baked themes running through the text to pick one out.

Mark Huismann portrays a Stockholm syndromestricken hostage skillfully, and Jessica Warpula does an admirable job with maybe the hardest role. (Although she's awfully clean-cut -- is a fanatic eco-warrior allowed to shop at Old Navy?) But no matter how capable the actors are, Cat's Paw fails them by refusing to treat their characters like authentic people whose words and actions make sense.