The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective presents Eli Lynn’s CATO (Remixed)

A play staged in Carpenter’s Hall is not without its challenges or distractions, but Philadelphia Artists’ Collective producing artistic director Damon Bonetti (helming his last show in the role) makes the best of the historic surroundings with the help of production designer Aidan Pells. Costume designer Teal Knight likewise makes the old new again with her unique use of repurposed neckties. I just wish there was an intermission, so I could peruse more of the artifacts around me.

The Founding Fathers’ favorite

There was a time when Addison’s Cato was one of the most-performed works of western literature. It was especially popular in the 13 colonies—reputedly a favorite of George Washington’s, and an inspiration for some of the most famous figures of the American Revolution (even to the extent that famous Revolutionary quotes like Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death!” appear to in fact be paraphrased from this work). But today, few people have seen a production of the centuries-old work, at least if the opening night CATO (Remixed) audience’s show of hands is any indication.

It's clear, even from the adaptation, why the original Cato would have been popular with the Founding Fathers: at its core, it’s the story of the titular Roman senator (Peter Schmitz) who, along with his supporters, leads an active resistance to the alleged tyranny of Julius Caesar. It is, for this reason, also clear why PAC might have believed that an adaptation of the work would be relevant to an audience in 2025. In the face of great threats to our liberty, who wouldn’t want to cheer a rebellion?

The adaptations we need

Still, if the original work were entirely relevant to our modern world, there would be no reason to adapt it. Cato’s commitment to stoicism traffics awfully close to toxic masculinity, the depiction of women reflects more on their place in society in 18th-century England than ancient Rome (neither of which are resonant today), and the two African characters in the original text hew to the stereotypes of noble savage and the backstabbing slave. It can be hard for a modern audience to see past. And here’s where Lynn’s adaptation really gets going.

One of the most surprising and delightful moments in CATO (Remixed)—especially if you’re familiar with the tours given in Independence National Historical Park—comes just a few minutes into the play, and I won’t give it away. Suffice it to say that General George Washington (also Schmitz) becomes a character in the show, providing summary and context for the original work. He is not, however, an unseen, unobserved narrator to the remainder of the play’s characters. They see him; they interact with him; and they contradict him, more and more so as the play progresses.

Modern sensibilities and the classical text collide with a scene in which blackface is presented as a perfectly legitimate means of disguise, leading Syphax (Anthony Martinez-Briggs) to an excellent escape from the play itself by means of a set of doors that are supposed to be beyond the show’s playable space. Another such scene allows Cato’s daughter Marcia (Anna Faye Lieberman) and the Numidian prince Juba (Caroline Strange) to challenge the themes of family and love and gender that frequently roil just below the source’s surface. There’s even a scene in which two characters (Cato’s son Portius and his love Lucia, played by Madeline Garcia and James Kern, respectively) wrestle with their obligation to the historical record before learning that they are, in fact, constructions of the play and not plucked from history.

And yet, despite the audience seeing all of this, George Washington continues to tell us the story as Addison originally wrote it. The new generation moves forward while the old remains steadfastly committed to the past. The metaphor is pretty clear in all of this.