Puss: Reboot

Fringe Description: Intense · Intellectual

The promo says it’s a sci-fi version of the fairytale Puss ‘n’ Boots. In both stories, a son inherits a cat from his father. Disappointed at first, it turns out, in both cases to be a smart cat and a good deal after all. As a love story, Puss: Reboot is summarized as: Boy meets cyborg. Boy loses memory. Cyborg wakes up and leaves.

Father, patriarch of cyborg manufacturing company, has disappeared after struggle with Puss, one of the original cyborg prototypes. Jed, the evil brother, wants to keep all cyborgs including Puss as, well, cyborgs – tools to be used by humans. Other son has another idea: start the revolution, end slavery, set the cyborgs free. He has experimented with rebooting cyborgs to give them free will—and emotions—on a small scale and is now ready to do a viral massive reboot. Unfortunately he has lost his memory and, along with it, the key to the reboot. 

Enter Puss in a large box marked “Sin Co” – for Sinclair Technologies, the family business. 
It’s an interesting premise. The set, costumes and acting were all just in that zone of seeming a little campy but sincere enough not to be over the top. 

To enjoy this play, you’ll need to bring a willing suspension of disbelief. I was glad to have had a trip to the Fringe Bar to assist with said suspension.

Even so, I felt like I also was missing the key. Feel free to enlighten me.

By Mary Bennett