LEWISTON — Everyone knows that no human ever owns a cat. It’s the other way around.

“Indoor/Outdoor,” the opener for The Public Theatre’s 20th anniversary season, explains a lot about this feline phenomenon from the perspective of Samantha, a pampered house cat who is madly in love with her owner.

“Indoor/Outdoor” is a sweet, smart and wacky comedy for pet lovers. It plays Oct. 15-24.

In her on-stage “memoirs,” Samantha tells us about her birth, her early days in an animal shelter and her clever catch and possession of a human. Then along comes Oscar, an alley cat, who rocks her world with stories of the great outdoors.

Torn between the security of her home and a desire to explore her wild side, Samantha makes friends with a therapist and hilariously works through her “relationship issues” with her owner.

“This hip and clever comedy explores the crazy ways we love our pets and the way they love us back that makes it all worthwhile,” said director Christopher Schario, who also is TPT’s artistic director.

“The great thing about ‘Indoor/Outdoor’ is that it is less about cats than it is about unconditional love and our desire to be seen and understood deeply by the people we’re involved with,” Schario said. “It’s really a wonderfully funny and touching romantic comedy for anyone who’s ever been in a relationship … human or otherwise.”

This play by Kenny Finkle debuted at the Hangar Theater in Ithaca, N.Y., in 2004. From there, it moved to the D R 2 Theater, an Off-Broadway venue, in 2006. Since then, it has enjoyed numerous productions at theaters throughout the United States.

Sandra Blaney stars as the feline protagonist Samantha. Blaney has appeared regularly in theaters throughout New England and New York, and was seen on-stage last season at TPT in both “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “A Christmas Carol.”

Playing her owner, Shuman, is New York actor Evan Mueller. When not acting or directing in regional theaters, he teaches theater at New York University. Mueller was last seen on-stage at TPT in “The Nerd” and “Orphans.”

Also returning to TPT in the role of the wacky cat therapist Matilda is Heather Dilly. She appeared in TPT’s productions of “Secrets of A Soccer Mom” and “Gun-Shy.” This summer, she appeared in the award-winning show “Screenplay,” which will be moving Off-Broadway this January.

New to TPT is Matthew Schmidt in the role of Oscar, the alley cat. Most recently, Schmidt appeared in both revivals of “Noises Off” on Broadway and “The Foreigner” Off-Broadway. He has starred in several indie films and has made numerous appearances on NBC, CBS, MTV and Comedy Central.

Martin Andrucki, Charles A. Dana Professor of Theater at Bates College, has written a study guide in which he notes how “Samantha’s character swings back and forth between contrasting moods and emotions like a pendulum or a see-saw. Of course, cats don’t consciously wrestle with choices of this sort, but when you look at a house cat gazing intently out a window, it certainly seems as if they do.”

“The delight offered by ‘Indoor/Outdoor’ is in the extended opportunity it gives us to consider the ways we are like cats, and vice-versa. In doing so, it helps us to see ourselves from a new and enlightening angle, which is one of the prime objectives of a work of art,” Andrucki adds in the study guide available at www.the public theatre.org.

Creating the world that cats and humans will share is set designer Jennifer Madigan. Lighting is by Bart Garvey and costumes are designed by Annette Bourque.

Go and do

WHAT: “Indoor/Outdoor”

WHO: The Public Theatre

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday on Oct 15-17 and Oct. 21-24; plus a 2 p.m. show on Saturday, Oct. 23

WHERE: 31 Maple St., Lewiston

TICKETS: Call 782-3200