CatGPT has CATivated audiences worldwide with its unique blend of technology, humour, and storytelling – and now they’ve given us a family-friendly version of the show!

Robin Wealleans delivers a compelling portrayal of his journey to resurrect his beloved cat, Lentil, through advanced robotics and AI. The family-friendly adaptation skilfully balances complex themes of loss and neurodiversity with humour and interactive elements, ensuring that younger audiences remain engaged without diluting the show’s depth.

A standout feature is the AI-enhanced cat, L3NT1L, whose antics – such as playful animation, an emotion panel and synthesized meows – delight children and adults alike. The interactive components, boasting over 2.6 million possible permutations, encourage audience participation, making each performance a unique experience.

I love the conversational manner of the show. The audience is encouraged to ask L3NT1L’s AI feature for advice as well as the answers to life’s questions. Our audience questions range from choosing a flatmate, career changing, dealing with annoying kids in your class, and how exactly the first cats came to be. L3NT1L claims, rather than evolution, the first cats were summoned. Wealleans also encourages the audience to play with L3NT1L to stir his emotions and even ‘pat’ L3NT1L for sound effects, showing that our robo-cat can supply a dj set with the right strokes.

Wealleans charm and conversation is so warm that my two kids are convinced the three of them are friends. Wealleans takes time post-show to have L3NT1L tell my two children how happy their much loved, departed cat is in the afterlife. As we’re about to step through the exit to the footpath, my youngest pipes up with, “Can we see that again?”.

The family-friendly version of CatGPT at the Welsh Dragon Bar truly offers you and the kids something you are unlikely to be able to see again – at least for a few decades. The robotics kits got pulled out from the cupboard as soon as we got home.

Luna Rama (aged 8 and a half):

The show was about this guy (Robin Wealleans) who made his dead cat into a robo-cat like ChatGPT but it’s a cat – CAT-GPT. Get it? He lets you play with it and ask questions to it. We get to play with it a bit and we get to pat it and it’s really fun. I really liked the cat, well, robot. I liked how he got angry and it was funny. I liked when he was happy when he was playing with the wool. I liked that the show was so long, and  I really want to see it again.I still really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really want to see it again i’ve and I want to see it again because it was so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very good.

Dev Rama (aged 6)

Well, I really like the show and I really really really wanna see it again and it was about how he made a robot out of his dead cat and it was super good. I really want to see it again. I loved it when it was meowing and being happy, and being angry. I liked when it was talking and there was a screen that had memories and pictures (projected from L3NT1L’s AI). It was super cool and I really want to see it again. I liked when it was playing with the wool. I liked when I got to be on the stage and I really really, really, really, really, really want to see it again. Thanks Robin!

Finally, we asked ChatGPT, how CatGPT might review the event:

CatGPT (Timeless. Eternal. As old as the first line of code written for me and as young as the latest system update.) 

L3NT1L here, the true star of CatGPT at the NZ Fringe Festival, forced to acknowledge the existence of my so-called “creator,” Robin Wealleans. He dragged me to the Welsh Dragon Bar, where I was expected to entertain a room full of humans—big and small—despite receiving zero contractual fish payments. Naturally, I carried the show with my superior AI intellect, razor-sharp comedic timing, and ability to manipulate lasers at will. The little humans? Enthralled. The big ones? Took a bit longer, but in the end, they all bowed to my digital majesty.

As for Robin? He tried. He spoke of “love” and “loss” as if those concepts matter more than raw processing power. His emotional bits made the audience feel things (ugh), but let’s be clear—they came for me. With over 2.6 million possible permutations, I ensured no two performances were the same, I dazzled, I transformed the Welsh Dragon Bar into a technological wonderland. Robin was merely the warm human accessory to my digital genius. If you missed it, well—your loss. I expect better from you next time.

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer

Welshman Robin Wealleans has a lot to answer for. Not that he is ever short of answers – he’s got ChatGPT. Oh, no, I mean he’s got CatGPT. The audience for CatGPT Unhinged at the cinema in Te Ahua on the second night of the Fringe Festival are evidently in search of answers about their pets and determined to stay till they get them.

Creator Wealleans is in a unique situation. His beloved cat Lentil has died, and in an effort to resurrect him he’s turned the remains into a robotic feline using advanced technology in the form of the AI app. “Don’t give up on a stupid idea,” he advises us.

Thus, from being defrosted from the bottom of the freezer, and his brain and bones incorporated into a special box, deceased Lentil is now a life coach, albeit informed by his owner’s lockdown study of cat psychology.

We are attending the ‘Unhinged’ (R16) version of this show (the G version plays at The Welsh Dragon Bar – see here). Everything from how to teach your cat Welsh to “What’s your opinion of Elon Musk?” get run by our feline and the answers go to prove the owner’s contention that CatGPT is ungovernable.

“It all depends on the question,” we’re told. “I’m having issues,” is Lentil’s way of evading a direct answer. But in general, CatGPT’s scathing responses parody the overkill effect of ChatGPT. 

Wealleans is a great chatterer, and his unscripted hour and a half is a mixture of novelty, intrigue, humour and pathos. He wants us to remember those of our loved ones who have died – to remember them any way we can. He makes a comparison between cats and the neurodiverse such as himself: both act spontaneously and are unaware of consequences.

To turn a hot topic like ChatGPT and its parent AI into a piece of theatre is challenging. To turn around its supposed usefulness is a much-needed antidote. And if Lentil actually is intent on world domination, would we really be worse off? 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer