‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ Hits the High Mark

September 21, 2018 Simone Ellin, Associate Editor

Andrew Pastides (left) and Stephanie Gibson in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at Baltimore Center Stage (Photo by Bill Geenen)

Baltimore Center Stage’s 56th season opened with a bang last night with a sterling production of Tennessee William’s steamy classic, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

A family drama that takes place in the Mississippi Delta during a single afternoon and evening in 1954, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play centers around embittered spouses Maggie “the Cat” and Brick Pollitt and their extended family. The Pollitts have gathered at the family homestead to celebrate the 65th birthday of patriarch “Big Daddy.” Though the Pollitts seemingly have it all — money, land and prestige — there are secrets, deception, shame, desire, alcoholism and greed that threaten to tear the family apart.

Having recently seen the sublime 1958 movie treatment of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, I was both excited to see the play and dubious about how it would measure up. Directed by Tony Award-winning director Judith Ivey and performed by a talented cast with impressive credentials, Baltimore Center Stage’s production was different from the film but riveting nonetheless.

As Maggie, a woman who’s desperately trying to win her husband’s love and forgiveness, Stephanie Gibson gives a powerful and mesmerizing performance. Gibson carries the first act, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider it’s basically an hour-long monologue. Though Maggie is greedy, vain and mean-spirited, she’s also quick-witted, graceful and charming.

Forced to share a bedroom with a man she loves passionately but who refuses to make love to her and is drowning his shame and grief in alcohol, Maggie is at her wit’s end.

Charlotte Booker delivers a delightful and hilarious performance as Big Mama, the Pollitt family matriarch, while David Schramm is masterful as Big Daddy. Confronted with his own mortality and determined to save his favorite son from alcoholism, Schramm’s Big Daddy is at once funny, cruel, terrified and driven to get through to Brick. Alexis Hyatt shines as Maggie’s highly annoying and perennially pregnant sister-in-law, Mae.

Scenic designer Adam Koch’s set beautifully evokes the grandeur and mystique of a Southern plantation, and Joseph Aulisi’s costume design is spot-on in capturing the era.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” will be at Baltimore Center Stage, 700 North Calvert St., through Oct. 14. Don’t miss it.