NEW YORK—The current revival of Tennessee Williams's classic, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, receives a vivid interpretation under the directorial hands of Debbie Allen. In this completely African-American version the play maintains if not supersedes its inherent impact.
A greedy family awaits the impending demise of patriarch Big Daddy Pollitt, played with immense power and verve by James Earl Jones. The prize is a valuable estate, containing the richest land "west of the Nile." Although Big Daddy is reputed to be dying of cancer, wife Big Momma, the almost equally vivid Phylicia Rashad, denies this.
Hinging on everything is whom Big Daddy will choose to be his heir. He favors his son Brick (Terrence Howard), but only on condition that Brick produce a child. Brick's wife Maggie (Anika Noni Rose) would be only too happy to oblige, but for the giant impediment that Brick refuses to do the act that would make this possible. Brick is angry with Maggie, for he believes that she has brought about the death of his closest friend, Skipper.
Leading the opposing contingent of the family, Big Daddy's daughter-in-law Mae (Lisa Arrindell Anderson) is only too fertile (the family get-together is often interrupted by the appearance of her brood of "no-neck monsters," as Maggie refers to them) and along with the less-favored Pollitt son, Mae's husband Gooper (Giancarlo Esposito), is almost drooling about the possibility of winning the estate.
There are some wonderful in depth scenes between Brick and Big Daddy and between Maggie and Brick that explore relationships and feelings in a way that few current playwrights know how to do. Anika Noni Rose makes the most of Maggie's sensuous nature and Terrence Howard as Brick is extremely appealing, but lacks enough emotional variety to carry the character effectively through the entire play.
Rounding out the cast are the Reverend Tooker (Lou Myers) and Doctor Baugh (Count Stovall), who finally convinces Big Momma of the seriousness of Big Daddy's health problem. There are the children and the household staff; in short, a rich assortment of folks who make up and support this Southern clan.
Ray Klausen's comfortable set, with slatted shades, displays Southern ease that keeps, or tries to keep, the heat out. There is good complementary lighting by William H. Grant III and nice costumes by Jane Greenwood, particularly for Maggie.
This Cat makes for an exciting evening in the theater and better ensemble playing you will not find.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,
Broadhurst Theatre
235 West 44th Street
Tickets: (212) 239-6200
Closes: June 22, 2008
Diana Barth writes and publishes "New Millennium," an arts newsletter.
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