Few companies have picked better plays this season than City Theatre, producing such classic works as Buried Child, Raisin in the Sun, Rabbit Hole, and Hamlet, and for their penultimate production, they have decided go with one of the most acclaimed plays ever written. Tennessee Williams wrote many great plays, but many theatre buffs, including Williams himself, consider Cat on a Hot Tin Roof his best, the tale of Brick and his wife Maggie, whose marriage is on the rocks, who come to celebrate what could be the final birthday of Brick's father, Big Daddy. City Theatre’s production of the play, directed with skill by Jeff Hinkle, hand picks a splendid cast featuring some of the top talents in town to bring the show to Austin audiences, producing an intriguing and enthralling family drama that stands as one of their best productions this year.
When you walk in and take your seat in City Theatre’s intimate house, you’ll feel yourself submerged into a deep summer in the south, as the crickets chirp outside the room in which dwells Brick Pollit. The room, designed by Andy Berkovsky, artistic director for City Theatre, implies opulence, with a large, comfortable king-sized bed, plenty of fine furnishings, and a fully stocked liquor cabinet, but also features a sense of decay around some of the edges, frayed lace and chipped paint hinting at both age and, perhaps, warning of the malice that lurks within its walls. It makes the perfect setting for the play, surrounding these troubled characters in a beautiful, but crumbling world that could fall apart at any instant.
Rachel McGinnis cuts a fine figure as Maggie “The Cat”, driving all the gentlemen crazy as she slips around stage in a revealing slip dress, but her talents don’t stop there. While many actresses may choose to play Maggie as nothing more than a beautiful spoiled nag, McGinnis injects a gentleness into her performance that allows an audience member to truly sympathize with her plight. She stills maintains a certain sense of severity, as the role requires, but we see that severity comes not from a basic hatred of the world around her, but instead from the difficulty she has trying to keep a happy face in a world
where everyone sees her as just an outsider. When she tells Brick that she loves him, we don’t write it off as simply another ploy for attention or money, but as genuine affection, which gives us a bit of a different look at the character. The role requires many long speeches, and in a lesser actor, these monologues could drone on and on, the audience slipping off to a deep sleep, but McGinnis attacks these lines with a gentle swaying cadence, injecting different emotion into her delivery to always keep the audience rapt.
When Garry Peters treads the boards, his imposing figure is sure to steal your attention, cigar firmly in between his lips and sneer permanently glued to his mouth. He thunders around stage like a angered beast, closing out the world around him, relishing in past glories while cursing his life in current days, looking forward to a future that we secretly know will never happen. Despite his hard outer shell, Peters is not afraid to let his tender side shine through the gaps, especially in his more intimate scenes with Brick. He is able to balance explosive fits of anger with more sensitive moments with the skill that only an experienced actor as himself can provide, bringing to life the character in an amazingly vivid way.
Though these two actors steal the spotlight for much of the show, many of the supporting acts are in need of accolade as well. The first time we meet Terri Bennet as Big Mama, there’s instantly something that reminds of our own grandmas, a warm hospitality in her voice and mannerisms that makes us yearn for homemade pancakes and blueberry pie right out of the oven, and she carries that authenticity through the entire run of the play. Also impressing the audience, despite her limited stage time, is Samantha Brewer as Mae. Brewer is one of the top talents in town, and here she puts her skills to .jpg)
good use, creating some genuinely hilarious moments from lines that weaker actors and productions would have just thrown away.
Though it’s far from difficult to find a production of Tennessee Williams in this town, Jeff Hinkle and the folks at City Theatre bring something to the production that goes beyond what most other companies offer. Many theater fans are sure to be familiar with the show, but no matter how many times you've read or seen the play, Hinkle and company are sure to surprise you, thanks to a talented cast and some fine production choices.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is playing at City Theatre through August 15th. To purchase tickets, or to find out more information about the show, be sure to visit their website at citytheatreaustin.org.
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