Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), a play by Tennessee Williams. [Morosco Theatre, 694 perf.; Pulitzer Prize, NYDCC Award.] Margaret Pollitt ( Barbara Bel Geddes) is a woman of strong passions and determination. At the moment what she most wants is the love of her detached, alcoholic husband, Brick ( Ben Gazzara), an ex‐football star. The family has assembled to celebrate the birthday of its patriarch, “Big Daddy” ( Burl Ives), the richest cotton planter in the Mississippi Delta. The gathering exacerbates tensions and animosities, so in a fit of despair Maggie reveals to Brick that she has had an affair with his closest friend, Skipper, even though she knew Skipper was at heart a homosexual. The affair drove Skipper to drink and suicide. Big Daddy also assails Brick, making him see that his alcoholism stems from his refusal to save Skipper because he shared Skipper's homosexual tendencies. Infuriated, Brick reveals that Big Daddy is dying of cancer. Maggie knows that there is no will, and, fearing that Big Daddy might disinherit Brick and her in favor of her brother‐in‐law and his family, she lies that she is pregnant. Throwing away Brick's liquor, she says, “We can make that lie come true. And then I'll bring you liquor, and we'll get drunk together, here, tonight, in this place that death has come into!” The play (produced by the Playwrights' Company) was essentially another variation of Williams's favorite themes, Southern decadence and homosexuality. Nevertheless, it was, as Brooks Atkinson observed, “a stunning drama. . .the work of a mature observer of men and women and a gifted craftsman.” Commendable Broadway revivals in 1974, 1990, and 2003 confirmed the drama's theatrical effectiveness.