This is gonna sound really weird, but do any of you have a time period you see cats as occurring in?
I was thinking about it, and I think there’s three possibilities.
1- The early 1980s
When the musical first premiered. Many of the props the characters use such as the shoes, cereal boxes and yogurts containers in ‘Pekes and Pollicles’ would suggest after WW2, when these types of packaging became popular, and the 80′s gives a nice tie in to the musical.
2- The 1930s
When the poems were written. The car in the the junkyards seems to be more reminiscent of vehicles from this era. The train the cats construct resembles a steam train, which wouldn’t be as common in the 80s.
3- The late Victorian period, or early Edwardian period
Admittedly, most of the set doesn’t fit with this, but it does work with some of the lines, such as the character mentioning Queen Victoria, who died in 1901, as if her reign was in living memory, and Gus claiming to having acting with Irving and Tree, in reference to two famous british actors, Henry Irving (died in 1905) and Herbert Beerbohm Tree (died in 1917). The train mentioned above also applies. As well certain clothing the cats wear is more reminiscent of this era, such as Bustopher Jones’ dapper suit, and Skimble’s train uniform.
Of course, it’s far more likely, that the production teams blend era on purpose, to more separate the characters from humans, but I think it’s fun to speculate.
