Herding Cats

In this smartly form-conscious revival of Lucinda Coxon’s 2010 play Herding Cats, the choice of watching in-person at the Soho Theatre or online is a happy one. Both options deepen the play’s prescient exploration of isolation and desire.

Justine (Sophie Melville) and Michael (Jassa Ahluwalia) are flatmates. As she is drawn into the orbit of her infuriating older colleague, his relationship with a regular client at his phone-sex job becomes increasingly murky.

Melville plays Justine with frenetic charisma, gradually unravelling as she recounts her office battles. Ahluwalia’s Michael, in his pink headset, suggests quiet hurt while playing the perfect foil to Justine.

The effective use of video in Anthony Banks’ production draws further perspective from Coxon’s premise. Greg Germann, who plays Saddo, Michael’s mysterious daddy dom client, performs his role from the US. His appearances via projections in the theatre (or a video window if watching digitally) put him at a remove; he is a pathetic figure, but he also looms unseen by Michael on the back panels of Grace Smart’s set.

The spot-on costume design by Susan Kulkarni sees Justine wear a number of perfectly polished outfits, while house-bound Michael sticks to slouchy comfort clobber.

Not all of the elements work. The goofy sound effects distract from, rather than add to, Justine and Michael’s increasingly haywire carolling, and the overemphatic final note is a misstep. But this is a wise piece of programming that empathetically channels the emotions of Coxon’s play, while showing the potential of dual theatrical and digital experiences.