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The Ring, the Cat, and Paddy’s Missing Digit: A dark comedy in four acts
In the town of Portlaoise—a place that lives and breathes its own stubborn history, draped in shadows that grow longer with every whispered tale—an ancient curse stirs awake. The Ring, the Cat, and Paddy’s Missing Digit is a darkly comic adventure that begins when a spirited young woman named Maria O’Leary stumbles upon an ancient, cursed ring. In a fit of drunken bravado at The Merry Ploughboy Pub, the charming everyman Paddy Byrne slips the relic onto his finger. In that one moment, his life twists into a tale far older than himself. The eerie and elusive Quin Victoria, a cat with an almost human intelligence, leaps into action, severing Paddy’s finger and swallowing it along with the ring before disappearing into the night.
What follows is a bizarre and thrilling hunt for a cursed cat, a cursed ring, and a cursed finger. A strange assembly of townsfolk is drawn into the chase, each with their own motives and theories. There’s the imperious Lady Fitzpatrick, who fiercely claims the ring as a lost family heirloom ; the boisterous Colonel O'Leary, a retired military man who delights in the thrill of a new mystery ; the stoic Sergeant Doyle, a man of rules whose belief in order is sorely tested ; and the dramatic Father O'Malley, who sees the ring as a harbinger of damnation. This unlikely fellowship, including the rational Dr. Faisal and the wise Scottish Highlander Angus McTavish, is forced to work together, stumbling through shadowed alleyways and fog-drenched cemeteries in their "purr-suit of peril".
As they pursue the cunning feline, the group discovers that they are chasing more than just a cat. They are chasing a legend that has lain dormant for generations. Guided by the grave insights of Amir Nassar, an antiquarian who understands the occult, they learn the ring’s chilling history. The ring is a parasitic vessel for a spirit steeped in sorrow, a being that moves through time latching onto relics of tragedy and unfulfilled love to grow in power. They uncover tales of its past a Highland dryad named Iona, whose love and grief first forged the ring’s power , and soldiers haunted by the horrors of war. The cat, Quin Victoria, is merely the latest host for this ancient sorrow, a specter wrapped in feline fur.
The Ring, the Cat, and Paddy’s Missing Digit is an ode to the enchantment of storytelling and the peculiar bonds of community forged in the face of the unknown. The play masterfully uses humor as a guiding light, allowing the characters to stumble and squabble with a wit that serves as a salve against the creeping dread. It is a poignant meditation on how love and loss can linger through ages and a celebration of human resilience and curiosity when confronted with the inexplicable. Ultimately, the characters form their own "Order of Unrestful Pursuits," a pact to face the mystery together, whether it leads to triumph or despair. This is a journey into the heart of a legend, a reminder that some shadows, however darkly they fall, will never truly leave us.
What follows is a bizarre and thrilling hunt for a cursed cat, a cursed ring, and a cursed finger. A strange assembly of townsfolk is drawn into the chase, each with their own motives and theories. There’s the imperious Lady Fitzpatrick, who fiercely claims the ring as a lost family heirloom ; the boisterous Colonel O'Leary, a retired military man who delights in the thrill of a new mystery ; the stoic Sergeant Doyle, a man of rules whose belief in order is sorely tested ; and the dramatic Father O'Malley, who sees the ring as a harbinger of damnation. This unlikely fellowship, including the rational Dr. Faisal and the wise Scottish Highlander Angus McTavish, is forced to work together, stumbling through shadowed alleyways and fog-drenched cemeteries in their "purr-suit of peril".
As they pursue the cunning feline, the group discovers that they are chasing more than just a cat. They are chasing a legend that has lain dormant for generations. Guided by the grave insights of Amir Nassar, an antiquarian who understands the occult, they learn the ring’s chilling history. The ring is a parasitic vessel for a spirit steeped in sorrow, a being that moves through time latching onto relics of tragedy and unfulfilled love to grow in power. They uncover tales of its past a Highland dryad named Iona, whose love and grief first forged the ring’s power , and soldiers haunted by the horrors of war. The cat, Quin Victoria, is merely the latest host for this ancient sorrow, a specter wrapped in feline fur.
The Ring, the Cat, and Paddy’s Missing Digit is an ode to the enchantment of storytelling and the peculiar bonds of community forged in the face of the unknown. The play masterfully uses humor as a guiding light, allowing the characters to stumble and squabble with a wit that serves as a salve against the creeping dread. It is a poignant meditation on how love and loss can linger through ages and a celebration of human resilience and curiosity when confronted with the inexplicable. Ultimately, the characters form their own "Order of Unrestful Pursuits," a pact to face the mystery together, whether it leads to triumph or despair. This is a journey into the heart of a legend, a reminder that some shadows, however darkly they fall, will never truly leave us.
169 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 9, 2025
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