Mog the Forgetful Cat review

McEwan’s set puts the Thomas house front and centre — it’s like a 3D picture-book illustration, all coloured-in panels and geometric shapes. It’s idyllic, safe, familiar – a rosy image of a family home. Indeed, the appeal of Kerr’s books is in their ordinariness — Mog’s escapades aren’t magical adventures, they’re domestic and pleasingly inconsequential. She forgets her catflap exists, or that she’s already eaten (she always gets her breakfast egg), runs around the vet’s exam room, and unwittingly stumbles into a cat competition. This breezy hour resists any temptation to over-elaborate these simple stories. Joey Hickman’s songs keep the cogs moving and add coherence to the show’s episodic structure. It’s genial and just-so.

It’s also strikingly heteronormative. Mrs Thomas with her frumpy clothes and parallel parking skills, and Mr Thomas with his comfy chair that he loves more than his wife, could hardly be more nuclear. It’s done tongue-not-far-from-cheek, but any sense of irony is likely to be lost on little ones. It risks reinforcing an outdated idea of “normal”. Still, this is a warm and funny work for young audiences from a company that has proven itself adept at entertaining all ages. A packed auditorium of children roaring “Bother that cat!” at the top of their lungs would seem to agree.