Cats
24 August 2026
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
Cats is currently running in a new production at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre until 19 September and will start an extensive UK tour running from October to summer 2027. Based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, it’s one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s best known musicals, combining extraordinary dance performances with whimsical songs about cats.
The Jellicle Cats gather for their annual ball, at which Old Deuteronomy will select one cat from their midst to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and begin a new life. The cats sing songs about their personalities and dance in the moonlight, vying for the coveted spot.
This production has made some bold design decisions, especially with their costumes. Aiming for a high fashion look, the cat suits depart from the well known painted-on fur look that many theatre lovers are used to, instead opting for a wide range of colours and textures. Some of these more artistic interpretations work incredibly well, though they definitely have a less distinct cat look about them, rather indulging in designs that allude to the character’s personalities and traits. Not all of these are successfully done, and the large variety of designs does feel a little imbalanced with some cats having lush details and others barely a couple spots painted on. Still, it’s a bold visual and works quite well with the crescent moon design elements of the rather sparse stage.
Once the sun goes down and it is quite dark for the second act, the visuals really spring to life a lot better, daytime shows just do not read quite the same in an outdoor amphitheatre when the plot revolves around night time adventures.
Plot wise, this one’s definitely not for me personally. It’s a very ethereal story told through dance and poetry, with simplistic lyrics that need a lot of suspension of disbelief to make sense of at all. It’s a spectacle, but definitely more of a matter of taste.
