It happened at the Corporate Retreat. Alister wants to hire his cat Jasper for a senior executive role at the public relations firm he runs as CEO. The partners are opposed, and Alister has agreed to discuss it at the campground corporate retreat for the senior team. Unknown to the partners, he has also brought Jasper along.
Julie, the vice-president of HR, has influence with the partners and together Alister and Jasper scheme to win her support. After a discussion of how employment discrimination practices pertain to the hiring of cats, Jasper gets impatient and decides to win Julie over by saving her from an attack of the deadly Sydney funnel web spider whose venom is highly toxic to people but harmless to cats.
Keywords: nepo kitties, cross-species culture wars, employment discrimination against animals, office romances, cat ladies, selectively toxic spiders
Genre: Comedy, Theatre for Young Audiences, Absurdist, Farce
Acts: 1
Run time: 10 minutes
Suitable for students 14+
Cast size: 3 actors
Male roles: 1
Female roles: 2
Casting notes:
Notes on playing Jasper: Jasper is extroverted and curious. The actor should have fun with this role, allowing her to express her large feline personality. Indifferent to corporate norms of social interaction (for example, no biting or scratching colleagues, no killing birds). Jasper takes notice of people only on her terms. Costuming can be as simple as a tail, cat ears, fur mittens and stick-on whiskers.
Visit the playwright's website, www.rickbutts.ca