The Mechanical Cat
By Janet Goddard
Music
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Script
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Score
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SYNOPSIS
Imagine this:
HEIDI HARDLY works in Piper's Pickle-Packing factory with JANE, DARLA, and BENJAMIN, under the direction of MAJOR. Heidi dreams of having an orange and white marmalade cat, but is horribly allergic. Benjamin dreams of Jane and makes feeble attempts to gain her attention.
At home, FOSTER, Heidi's husband of twenty years, takes her for granted and dismisses her dreams.
WHITLEY WILMERTONG, an art agent, rents the cottage next door and hires Heidi to take care of his client, MR. SPIVEY. Foster isn't supportive until he receives a bonus from Wilmertong, which he uses to buy a fishing boat--his dream come true. His obsession with fishing soon leaves Heidi feeling neglected.
Spivey arrives. Heidi is shocked that he wears only underwear and more shocked to learn he has a marmalade cat--the cat of her dreams! Spivey talks about heady things: perception, dreams, and possibility. Heidi struggles to understand and struggles being around the cat. Wilmertong sends Heidi surgical masks for allergic relief.
Heidi falls asleep on Spivey's couch and in a dream, he introduces a mechanical cat. When Heidi wakes, she sees Spivey working on his piece of art.
Heidi visits the pickle factory. Everyone is curious about her new job, and Benjamin is still busy pining for Jane. Heidi confides in Jane that somehow Spivey has read her dream and is making the mechanical cat out of clay.
Wilmertong asks Heidi to stay with Spivey day and night until he finishes his piece. Coming home to an empty house again, Foster demands that Heidi come home, but realizing her dreams are important, Heidi refuses. Realizing he may lose his wife, Foster devises a plan to win her back and makes her a mechanical cat--truly the cat of her dreams. And Benjamin finally gains Jane's attention.
NOTES