BOOST: Watch ‘A Cat in a Box’ at EdFringe 2026 – “Growing up isolated and alone in an alcoholic and dysfunctional family, Tom was often left with only his imagination for company…” (Ad)

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A Cat in a Box is an autobiographical solo play written and performed by Tom Nemec. Growing up isolated and alone in an alcoholic and dysfunctional family, Tom was often left with only his imagination for company. The play follows his childhood, the death of his father when Tom was fourteen, and the effect those experiences had on his adult life.

Moving between dark humour and drama, Tom portrays the family members, teachers and other people who shaped him. The play covers grief, addiction, recovery and the many years he spent trying to understand the events of his childhood. Tom eventually got sober at twenty-four and has remained sober for thirty-six years.

Now sixty and working as a New York City preschool teacher, he examines his past without asking the audience for sympathy or presenting himself as a victim. A Cat in a Box is about the lasting effects of family dysfunction and the ways people adapt in order to survive it.

ArtsIndependent called it “vivid, expert storytelling,” while Showtones wrote “The audience was captivated” and said it is “A story that resonates far and wide.”

You can catch A Cat in a Box at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall – Theatre 3 on August 7th – 15th from 14:05 (50mins). Tickets are available through theSpaceUK Online Box Office.

A Cat in a Box (Tom Nemec)

A deeply personal solo play that tells a story everyone can relate to. Through darkly humorous and dramatic monologues, Tom explores love, loss and hope growing up in an alcoholic, dysfunctional family, showing how trauma shapes our lives. Offering that no matter how dark the past, the present holds the possibility of light. ‘Nemec avoids all of the flaws of the genre that make autobiographical solo plays cringeworthy’ (Showtones.com). ‘For a moment, we were united in our collective experience, and in our resolve to heal’ (ArtsIndependent.com).