Most of the Lumiere shorts which show the audience vaudeville acts from the period are mediocre at best. They were repeated from film company to film company and the compositions were always limited in their variety and manipulation -- as they were intended for a stage, the proscenium arch was the natural margin for the performers and the camera.
This one, however, defies that convention. First, we are confronted with trained cats -- and anyone who has kept cats knows how difficult it is to get them to do anything -- although my ex-wife did train the cats to come running when she wished by starting the electric can opener. We also see an early and intelligent use of negative framing: the cats perform in a narrow band on the screen defined by a plank of wood and the two tables it rests on.