Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: What to Expect
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a classic of 20thC American drama by Tennessee Williams. It premiered in New
York in 1955, where it won the Pulitzer prize for drama
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It is directed by Simon Stone, but the text of Act 3 comes from the original version as written by Tennessee
Williams – take note, not the ‘Broadway version’ altered at the insistence of the director, Elia Kazan.
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof runs for approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including one interval of 20 minutes.
The first two acts run for roughly 1.5 hours then there is an interval and the second act for 40 minutes.
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There is a cast of eleven actors, all of whom play only one character each. Three of the actors are children
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The central characters are Maggie and Brick who are married, but not currently sleeping together. They
don’t have children, despite Maggie’s desire for them. Brick is the son of Big Mama & Big Daddy, and the
younger brother of Gooper (also called ‘Brother Man’). Gooper is married to Mae (also called ‘Sister
Woman’). They have 5 children and Mae is pregnant. The reason for the gathering of all the family in their
old home is the 65th birthday of Big Daddy, who has recently been through a cancer scare.
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In this production the actors don’t use Southern American accents, instead they speak in their own voices.
Costume and set design are not specifically period – the design drawn from a wide range of influences.
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The play explores Brick’s struggle to come to terms with himself, his disillusionment and his sexuality – a
series of defeats prompting deep disgust which he deals with mostly by drinking. It equally examines
Maggie’s predicament and her deep desire to have a child, in the conventional way, with a man who won’t
go to bed with her. The play probes the reluctance of people to come to terms with the inevitability of
death, even against all the evidence of disease. Plot-wise, the struggle over the inheritance, draws out all
these themes and the tendency of human beings to continually deceive themselves and each other.
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As a comedy, there are both larger than life characters and moments in this production of Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof. Serious subjects are treated both seriously and flippantly – there are ongoing references to the
‘spastic colon’ that Big Daddy has been diagnosed with instead of cancer. Students will nevertheless have
to focus on the story and listen throughout as the first act is longer than the second and much of what
happens later on is established during the first scene between Maggie and Brick.
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Sexual acts are suggested or depicted on stage. During the first act in one scene between Maggie & Brick,
she grabs a pillow and rides it in a suggestive way, determined to provoke him to a reaction. At the very
end of the play, when Maggie has persuaded Brick to give her a child, she undresses him and lays him
down on their bed; as the lights go out she is beginning to go down on him. We don’t actually see this
happen but it is clearly suggested that this is about to take place.
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The play includes infrequent swearing and offensive language – some of it grotesquely racist, misogynistic
and likely to shock/ surprise students – eg Big Daddy accuses Brick of ‘cutting yourself a piece of poontang’. The character of Big Mama is frequently mocked and called fat in a whole range of ways.
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof includes sexual references, innuendo and allusions. There are several references to
homosexuality, accompanied by homophobia, originating from and directed towards Brick in relation to
Brick’s friendship with Skipper, now dead. Brick refers to the ‘pair of old sisters Peter Ochello & Jack Straw’
men who used to sleep together in the room that he and Maggie have been given.
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Actors appear onstage in states of partial undress, eg wearing only underwear - in the first scene, Maggie
tries on several dresses and as she removes them she is wearing only a white bra and boy leg underpants.
The character Brick appears onstage wearing boxer shorts, post a shower, so he is dripping wet. Also, at
the end, Maggie is just in her underwear and she is undressing Brick but he is still wearing boxer shorts.
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The play includes onstage smoking of (herbal and non-toxic) cigarettes and minimal strobe lighting from
behind the curtain of streamers to create the effect of fireworks. There are sparklers on stage.
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Schools performance tickets are not sent out beforehand, we call schools into the theatre one by one for
the performance – phone our box office on 9699 3444 if you need to check your booking.
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Students need to be briefed about how to act during the play. This includes turning mobile phones off
completely and not eating in the theatre. It would be great to remind students the performance is live and
actors see and hear them in the audience. Please ask students not to talk, whisper or make comments.
We encourage laughter and natural reactions. Taking notes distracts actors and shouldn’t happen during
performances. Schools shows are followed by a Question and Answer session with the cast. Let your
students know they’ll be able to ask questions about things they don’t fully understand afterwards.