Tennessee Williams’ most popular play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opened on June 6 with ticket holders and more pouring into Pierson Playhouse. A crowd of all ages celebrated with generous refreshments before the show with overall cheer as they eagerly awaited curtain call.
Once seated the audience was easily transported to a plantation home in the Mississippi Delta through the realistic set design by Director Michael-Anthony Nozzi, then given full knowledge of the struggles of the childless couple of Margaret and Brick, played wonderfully by Sienna Farall and Ted Detwiler respectively.
Photo courtesy of Joy Daunis
Yet it was Brian Robert Harris as Big Daddy and Ted Detwiler as Brick capturing the true-to-life tension between father and son, that took the audience’s full attention as each character tried in vain to understand the angst of the other. Big Daddy with his health on the line, and Brick grappling with his ‘unnatural’ sexual desires, catapulted the stakes to their highest and moved the drama along—and with it Tennessee Williams at his best.
Director Michael-Anthony Nozzi chose to direct the play as Williams originally intended leaving in all of the original homosexual references, which he was forced to change under the McCarthy era.
By keeping the original script, Nozzi gives audiences a rare chance to experience this version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof professionally produced only two other times; once in London and once on Broadway.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, produced by Martha Hunter and Sherman Wayne runs at the Pierson Playhouse Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 13
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
