|
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Sean Graney
Produced by The Hypocrites
At The Building Stage
412 N. Carpenter
Chicago, IL
Call 312-409-5578, tickets $10 - $20
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 (note $10 tickets on Thursdays)
Sundays at 2 PM
Running time is 3 hours with 2 intermissions
Through February 4, 2007
“Mendacity is the system we live in,'' the son announces. ''Liquor is one way out and death's the other.''
Cat is a “fiercely charged” family sage.
The Hypocrites, under the meticulous direction of Sean Graney, have mounted a most powerfully wrenching production of Tennessee Williams’ 1955 Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. This intense show had me riveted to my chair throughout the three hours running time. Many consider Cat as Williams’ finest work (I agree). The Hypocrites new space at the new The Building Stage on Carpenter street is ideal for an intimate family drama with its centered stage and four cornered seating. 
Set in the Delta country outside of Memphis, we meet the rich Politt family getting ready to celebrate Big Daddy’s (Rob Skrocki in an understated, yet fiery performance) 65th birthday. Maggie (Jennifer Grace) and Brick (John Byrnes) bicker about their marriage, Brick’s drinking and his inability (and lack of desire) to have sex with Maggie. Maggie has several telling speeches that lay out her desires, her anxiety and her worries toward Brick and their place in the family as it appears that Big Daddy is terminally ill. Gooper (Gregory Hardigan) and his wife Mae (Stacy Stolz) have five children while Maggie and Brick have none as the two siblings jockey for favor with Big Daddy. Big Mama (Kate Harris at her domineering best) is in total denial as to Big Daddy’s health.
Williams finds classic tragedy in the contemporary South. In this poetic expressionist vision of the struggle between truth and illusion in the face of mortality and the fraught attempts of the family members to communicate amongst themselves, Williams deftly expresses the pain and loneliness each feels as they resort to attacking each other as their means of relating. Williams stated: “I am trying to catch the true quality of experience in a group of people, that cloudy, flickering, evanescent – fiercely charged! – interplay of live human beings in the thundercloud of a common crisis.” Director Sean Graney followed this direction to its fullest in this production. The physicality, especially between Maggie and Brick in act one and between Big Daddy and Brick in act three electrified the emotions and cruelty of the family. Brick’s cast on his right foot and his drunkenness were realistically played by John Byrnes.
Jennifer Grace as Maggie (in the role that made Elizabeth Taylor a sex goddess in the film) captured the rage, the sexuality and the sheer determination of the frustrated wife to the favored son (Brick). John Byrnes’ repressed homosexuality and self-hatred come across loud and clear. The talk Brick had with Big Daddy about why Brick drinks was marvelously played by Byrnes and Skrocki.
Graney’s production was respectful to Williams’ vision of the work. The play builds the dramatic tension gradually allowing each character to unwind their problems and interact effectively. The intensity of Big Mama, Maggie and Brick worked to highlight the underlying anger and unfulfilled desires of each character. Rob Skrocki’s Big Daddy, while commandingly intimating, still possessed a true desire to help his son Brick with his demons. The play demonstrates the destructiveness of repressed sexuality, alcoholism and repressed anger. Our inability to honestly communicate our feeling with one another leads to tragedy.
This powerfully acted play respects Williams’ work. The fine cast left all their emotions on the stage as they delivered first –class performances. The Hypocrites once again offers a most engaging show that will amaze you with its intensity.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: December 17, 2006
Jeff Recommended
|
