Karl the Cat and the Junkyard Pack
Reviewed by Arthur Bullock
The vibe of Karl the Cat and the Junkyard Pack is “self-discovery.”
When you look back on famous kids’ shows, it’s easy to take what they do for granted.
You might think that they only teach simple, childish morals, and that a mature adult has
no need for such things. And while it’s true that stories for kids can sometimes
oversimplify things, there’s a lot of real value if The Muppets and Mr. Rogers’
Neighbourhood. If something like that were produced for an older audience, it could end
up being really great — and Karl the Cat and the Junkyard Pack completely lives up to
that potential.
This show tells the story of Karl the Cat, a cat living in a junkyard with their four animal
friends: Randy the Rat, Darrell the Dog, Caroline the Crow, and Shane the Skunk. Each
of their friends has distinctive character traits, but Karl isn’t sure what makes them
special. So when “junkyard tourists” (the audience) arrive for a visit, Karl decides to take
them on an adventure to find out what that is.
The performance is done in the style of a puppet show, where a cast of hand puppets
engages with not only each other, but the audience as well, and even the two humans
providing musical accompaniment. They acknowledge their nature as puppets and the
physical realities of that arrangement, while still behaving as living individuals.
What makes Karl the Cat’s story so good is that it’s true to the premise it presents: it
takes everything people love about classic kids’ shows, and puts them into a story made
for a modern teen-and-up audience. It’s funny, charming, and immersive, with lively
characters who feel like real people. I found it very easy to imagine that I was really
visiting a junkyard, visiting actual living hand puppets.
Karl the Cat and the Junkyard Pack feels like something that should be an enduring
classic, well beyond a week-long festival. These characters have a life to them usually
found in timeless iconic cartoons, and they deserve to be acknowledged. I would
absolutely recommend this show to anyone.
Age Suitability: Parental Guidance (ages 13+)
Warnings: Audience Participation, Coarse Language, Other Warnings
Other: Mentions of weed
Venue: The Staircase | Bright Room
Special Performances: Relaxed Performance, Mask Mandatory Performance, Affinity Performance
Genre: Theatre—Comedy, Musical/Concert/Opera, Puppetry
Co-Creators
Jesse Lewis, Rachel Van Staaluinen
Stage Manager, Lighting Designer
Natasha Ross
Guitarists, Understudies
Kat Wilkie, Charlie VanStone
