LEWISTON — “Indoor/Outdoor” is a quirky look into the feline mind. The play opens The Public Theatre’s 20th season, and the on-stage antics are often frantic and unfailingly funny.

Last Friday’s opening night performance drew howls of laughter and a standing ovation. Remaining shows are scheduled Thursday through Sunday.

We humans have always wondered what’s going on inside the obviously complex cat mind. From hours of carefree napping to sudden races around the house, pet cats are an enigma.

Now, Samantha spells it all out in her memoirs right from birth through her life with Shuman and her infatuation with Oscar, an alley cat.

Yes, Samantha (portrayed by Sandra Blaney) is a cat.

Shuman, played by Evan Mueller, lives alone until he decides a kitten would be a nice addition to his home.

It’s a simple relationship until Samantha has to be taken to the veterinarian for a minor ailment. There, they meet Matilda, the vet’s loopy receptionist, played by Heather Dilly. She can talk cat language, much to Shuman’s amazement and doubt. Matilda insists that a cat-human communication gap between Shuman and Samantha must be corrected, and as their therapist, she can work it all out.

“Indoor/Outdoor” delights the audience with its nonstop action through most of Act I. Samantha’s conquest of her first mouse is a hilarious highlight. She’s on top of the world as she relishes her new accomplishment, and she can’t understand Shuman’s disgust when she drops her prize on his computer keyboard.

One night, Oscar (Matthew Schmidt) appears outside silhouetted before a full moon. He’s a real cool cat and he readily attracts Samantha’s attention. Oscar attempts to lure her into his wonderful outdoor world, and she’s determined to get Shuman to open that door.

Failure to communicate leads Samantha to bite Shuman’s hand, and that’s the last straw. As he opens the door to throw her out, Matilda appears and blocks the way as Act I closes.

In Act II, Matilda’s amateur attempts at therapy lead to some wacky exercises between the frustrated cat and confused owner.

Blaney’s portrayal of Samantha is straightforward with a minimum use of theatrical catlike motion. Both she and Oscar are dressed in human clothing. It’s their dialogue that makes them believable in the feline roles.

Both Blaney and Schmidt are excellent as the two cats.

Mueller puts just the right restraint on his barely contained exasperation at the changes in his cat and the uninvited involvement of the would-be cat therapist.

Dilly’s mile-a-minute performance as Matilda is a real crowd-pleaser. She takes the plot through scenes that range from chases right out of the old Keystone Kops flix to crazy cat-human interpreter situations that have kind of a “Sesame Street” ring to them.

At the end, the pace slows and everything is tied up neatly with a satisfyingly heart-tugging conclusion.

Christopher Schario, The Public Theatre’s artistic director, put just the right spin of comedy and reality into his direction of these four fine actors. Schario pointed out that “Indoor/Outdoor” is “less about cats than it is about unconditional love, and our desire to be understood deeply by the people we’re involved with.”

Set design by Jennifer B. Madigan evokes a cat’s view of the work with carpet all over everything in Shuman’s house.

This play by Kenny Finkle debuted at the Hangar Theater in Ithaca, N.Y., in 2004. From there, it moved to an Off-Broadway venue in 2006. Since then, it has enjoyed numerous productions at theaters throughout the United States.

Remaining shows

WHAT: “Indoor/Outdoor”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 21-22; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24.

WHERE: The Public Theatre, 31 Maple St., Lewiston

FOR TICKETS: Call 782-3200