Edinburgh Fringe 2025

Puss in Boots – A Cat’s Adventure

StoryMakers Theatre

Genre: Children's Theatre

Venue: theSpace on Niddry Street

Festival: Edinburgh Fringe

Low Down

Review

Retro music plays and a welcoming host is already on stage at the famous, legendary Puss in Boots, our hero central character lies asleep, centre stage. A bright, colourful set surrounds them.

From the very beginning of this novel take on the classic children’s tale, this is a clear and accessible, well crafted story, with the underpinning theme of the importance of friendship. Leaving the venue at the end with that lesson for life, that friendship and loyalty will trump any quests for success personally, more than justifies the ticket price and is a golden gift to the children.

Mouse is that supporting and loyal friend and all of the characters in this 45 minute piece are well done, larger than life, but grounded in that message making them authentic and believable to the children.

So very traditional in feel, the play darts between our modern age and journeys back in time to the earlier and more archetypal elements of this cat’s journey into realising the value of friendship.

Mentions of barbecues, classic and contemporary songs create a mashup of styles but also underpin that those messages from far away times are still relevant today. It’s a satisfying looking back tale of how the cat got his boots.

The always well managed interactive and collaborative style and ‘help me’ moments remind me of the classic fringe shows from Spotlight Theatre Company, sadly no longer at the Fringe. That signature style treats the children and those accompanying them with respect and never makes fun of them.

Vocal and physical work is tight, and these are skilled performers, in a precisely designed show that only occasionally but confidently wanders into the improvisational moment. So we are in safe hands and that can be important to kids’ shows these days.

Master of his own life, our central character, the cat in golden boots, embarks on a journey of self discovery and realisation that is essentially a morality tale that is never pushed too firmly during the show but certainly comes home to us all powerfully at the end.

If there is one suggestion around the music it is to maybe cut back a bit on all of the modern songs and allow the original written music to be more prominent because it is so well written, witty and well delivered that the backing track music sometimes overburdens and takes undeserved prominence.

This is a joyful, pleasing two hander musical, that never patronises the audience and is more than willing to cover important things such as loneliness and finding our way through overcoming challenges, and those challenges can even be our own mindset and behaviours that we need to transform into something warmer and better.

The narrative allows us all to travel back in time and experience the backstory of how Puss got his boots but also lost his way. There is inventive puppetry, clever use of props and costume, lyrics and physical theatre that serve the narrative. Cameos from the three pigs and other characters from classic fairy tales are an added bonus.

In places I would suggest a strengthening of the underlying story and reduce the modern song references. In places they are too intrusive and then the magic of traditional storytelling gets a little bit too overburdened by those modern references, many of which will only be understood by the parents in the audience.

Audience involvement is at just the right level, that requires sensitive and proper hosting of those elements and this is more than achieved here by two performers more than on top of this show and its intentions.

A journey through classic fables, the Three Pigs, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, in which the show and its evolving narrative. Sound balance needs refining. Sometimes the volume drowns out the words and vocals on stage. Occasionally too complicated and inventive for its own boots, less could be more and I think we all need a little bit of silence and time to breathe all of this in and digest it because it is so rich and utterly lovely.

Jampacked, furious pace, bubble filled fun, every moment is filled to the point of an overfill and a bit of dramaturgy here would take out some of the references and elements and the show would lift in terms of clarity even more. But these really are minor suggestions and quibbles in the show that actually is pretty much pitch perfect as storytelling theatre and character work, with comedy that works, both physically and verbally as well as musically.

This is top notch family theatre, a heart warming, heartening and friendship affirming 45 minutes. The audience loved it and there was a rousing ovation at the end as well as a few thank yous. And it is the only children’s show I’ve ever seen whose final song is a Leonard Cohen number. It danced us to the end of the show and was part of a joyful finale. Excellent work, a must see before the end of its Fringe run.

Published August 8, 2025August 8, 2025 by Paul Levy