How does a pair named Heaven and Lee meet up? Did one get the idea for a partnership and seek out the other or did one of them conveniently change their name to make it work? Whatever the answer, the coming together of Elise Heaven and Jamie Lee to create Heavenlee Theatre was a match made in . . . errr. . . heaven. Their first production, Passpawt, on the other hand, describes a match made in feline hell.
Our heroine, Helena, lives alone or in flat-shares. She loves cats and feeling lonely and in need of a furry cuddle gets a ginger kitten, described as cute, loving and friendly, from an ad in the paper. The cat, which she calls Linda as her original choice of Lulu seemed unsuitable, turns out to be a monster, dominating her life and destroying her home. Nevertheless, Helena perseveres, hoping the hopeless moggy will change its ways and reciprocate her love. It doesn’t.
Finally, Helena decides to return to her family in her native Slovakia, taking the evil Linda with her. Linda is inoculated and micro-chipped and is issued with a fully- fledged, copper-bottomed British pet passport entitling her to re-enter the UK without let or hindrance. Helena is resentful, worried that she may not be able to return to her beloved England, which she considers home, after Brexit. The cat scores another point.
Based on a true story, the piece is beautifully written and observed, as only a cat lover could, by Ms Heaven who also takes on the role of Helena. While not quite a tour de force her performance came pretty close. Mr Lee directs, never letting the fifty–minute monologue sag for a moment. Following theatrical advice handed down through the ages of never appearing with children or animals Linda is, sadly, only imagined, mimed. Pity – I would have liked a bit of real hissing and scratching. Nevertheless, the cat’s evil is always present, rather like the demonic possession in The Crucible playing on the other side of the Studio’s back wall in the Everyman’s main house – and wasn’t Linda the name of the girl in The Exorcist?
As a cat lover myself, I enjoyed and sympathised with Passpawt, so more power to Heavenlee’s elbow. I shall look forward to future productions. ★★★★☆ Michael Hasted 21st March 2017
