By Grace Miaow Hatchell
There are certain moments in life when you realise events have moved beyond your control. Your mum might not be home for Christmas, your sisters have been left in charge, they’re mean to you, they’re mean to your cat… and then the cat starts talking.
At that point, I think we can safely say the original Christmas plans have been abandoned.
Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre has announced the cast for its 2026 Christmas production of Puss in Boots, running from 5 to 31 December. Nick Lane has adapted the familiar fairy tale for the stage, with Paul Robinson directing, as the team behind Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin and the UK Theatre Award-winning Beauty & the Beast returns to cause festive trouble once again.
This year we’re off to Scarbarocia. I have said Scarbarocia aloud three times now and enjoyed it more on each occasion.
Jacob Butler, Alyce Liburd, Sarah Pearman, Shannon Rewcroft, Georgie Samuels and Jess Woodward make up the cast, introducing us to the inhabitants of this peculiar kingdom and one particularly eventful Christmas.
At the centre of it all is Sam, the unluckiest kid in Scarbarocia. It’s not that he’s shy — he isn’t. It’s not even the draughty old mill with holes in the roof, although I would suggest somebody gets a roofer round before the North Yorkshire winter properly arrives.
Sam is allergic to almost everything, his mum has to go away to look after his auntie and she might not make it back for Christmas. That leaves his sisters in charge, and unfortunately they’re mean. They’re mean to Sam and, more dangerously, they’re mean to his cat.
Big mistake.
Never be mean to the cat. Cats already wander around our homes with the quiet confidence of creatures who believe they own the property and we’re merely temporary staff. This one has additional capabilities.
Just as Sam concludes this could be the worst Christmas ever, his cat speaks to him. Fairy tales are remarkably relaxed about this sort of development. Personally, if a cat looked directly at me and said, “Grace, we need to talk,” I’d have questions. How long have you been able to do that? What else do you know? And which of my supposedly private conversations have you understood?
Sam apparently has less time for an existential crisis because once the cat starts talking, everything changes.
The SJT promises songs, silliness and “more saucers of cream than you can shake a mouse at”, before helpfully clarifying that you should never actually shake mice because they don’t like it.
I am pleased this has been clarified. Theatre Village’s official position is therefore that all mice should remain unshaken. Although if a boot-wearing cat approaches, I imagine they’ll make their own arrangements.
Behind the silliness is a rather lovely Christmas premise. Sam isn’t some timid soul waiting for somebody braver to rescue him; he’s simply been dealt a spectacularly unfortunate hand. Christmas isn’t turning out as planned, his mum may not be there, his sisters aren’t helping and even his house has holes in it.
Then assistance arrives from the least likely member of the household.
Puss has always been a wonderfully peculiar fairy-tale hero. Cinderella gets a fairy godmother, Aladdin gets a genie, Jack gets magic beans. Sam gets a cat with opinions.
I rather admire the confidence.
And the boots are important. A talking cat is concerning. A talking cat wearing boots has clearly established a strategy. I wouldn’t argue with it.
There is plenty of experience behind the nonsense. The production comes from the team behind previous SJT Christmas shows Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin, as well as the UK Theatre Award-winning Beauty & the Beast.
Helen Coyston designs the production, with lighting by Tigger Johnson and sound by Simon Slater. Alex Weatherhill is Musical Director and Stephanie Dattani is Movement Director.
Movement Director on Puss in Boots is a job I’d quite like to observe. “You’ve crossed the stage like an actor, darling. I need you to cross it like you’ve just heard a tin being opened in the kitchen. Again.”
The SJT promises fun for families — and felines — of all ages, and Scarborough feels rather a good home for it. Outside, the North Sea can perform its usual December dramatics and Scarborough Castle can sit moodily on the headland. Inside, a cat wearing boots will apparently be attempting to rescue Christmas. That seems a perfectly reasonable division of responsibilities.
There is something else I rather like about this version. Christmas hasn’t gone wrong because of some enormous curse or dastardly villain. It’s gone wrong in a much more recognisable way. Family circumstances change, someone you want at home has to be somewhere else, people become difficult and the Christmas you imagined suddenly isn’t the Christmas you’re getting.
Then something unexpected comes along and changes everything.
Admittedly, most of us don’t get a talking cat. Life is unfair like that.
Beneath the boots, cream and mouse-related health and safety advice, there seems to be a rather sweet story about discovering that a rotten-looking Christmas might not be beyond saving after all.
My only concern is what happens afterwards. Once your cat has spoken to you, you cannot possibly return to the old domestic arrangements. You can’t save Christmas together, embark on a grand adventure and then wander into the kitchen in January asking, “Who’s a good kitty?”
The cat knows. The cat remembers. The cat has worn boots.
And I strongly suspect the cat will now be expecting a chair at the dining table.
Puss in Boots runs at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre from 5 to 31 December 2026. The production is directed by Paul Robinson and adapted by Nick Lane, with Jacob Butler, Alyce Liburd, Sarah Pearman, Shannon Rewcroft, Georgie Samuels and Jess Woodward in the cast.
Just remember the rules: don’t shake the mice, don’t upset the cat, and if the cat starts talking, listen.
It appears to be the only one with a plan.
Tickets are available from the Stephen Joseph Theatre box office on 01723 370541 and through the theatre’s website. www.sjt.uk.com
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