Review: CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF Doesn't Land On Its Feet

Reviewed by JoAnne Hartstone, Saturday 23rd June 2016

The Adelaide Repertory Theatre is presenting Cat On A Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. It is directed by Barry Hill and it runs at the Arts Theatre until Saturday 2nd July.

The staging of the Adelaide Rep's production certainly looked beautiful. The elegant and ornate set design evoked the heat and decadence of the Deep South. Big windows covered with white flowing curtains, and crystal glasses and chandeliers were reminiscent of a Plantation Big House, and the furniture matched to boot. A chaise longue was awkwardly placed in the centre of the stage at an unrealistic angle to the rest of the set, but provided the cast with a dynamic playing space.

Unfortunately, this was the only dynamic thing about the production. That is not to say that there wasn't drama and conflict, Tennesse Williams's play is a perfectly written commentary about families, truth, sexuality, relationships, and mortality. There is a reason it has entered into our literature canon and has revivals every few years across the Western theatre scene. The Adelaide Rep's production, however, did not do the script justice.

Brick (played by Joshua Coldwell) and his wife Maggie (played by Anita Pipprell) have returned to the Plantation for Big Daddy's 65th birthday celebration. Their marriage is in crisis. Brick openly discusses his dislike for his wife and wishes she would have an affair. Maggie is addicted to her husband, wanting to sleep with him and have his child, but their fractured relationship is almost too broken to repair and any intimacy is simply impossible. They have received news that Big Daddy (played by Russell Starke) is dying, and want to be considered to inherit the estate over Brick's brother, Gooper (played by Alan Fitzpatrick), his wife, Mae (played by Nicole Rutty), and their 5 (soon to be 6) children. Big Daddy's diagnosis is covered up, and quickly news spreads to Big Momma (played by Jude Brennan) and the family that Big Daddy is one hundred percent well, and this gives Big Daddy a new energy to run his estate and live his life as he sees fit.

Hill's direction of this masterful script was lacking. The dense dialogue needed significant detail in delivery and interpretation and, unfortunately, the cast ended up shouting for most of the play,losing any of the lighter moments or the subtle tension. It was very difficult to sympathize with any of the characters due to the constant onslaught of shouted text, however, Joshua Coldwell (Brick) gave a solid performance in a complicated role. His physicality and accent were excellent, although his falls were at times overacted. The Southern accent was less convincing from the other cast members, and Jude Brennan (Big Momma) in particular struggled to maintain her drawl.

Russell Starke loomed an impressive figure as Big Daddy, but his performance lacked nuance. Nicole Rutty's pregnant costume was almost ridiculously big and would have benefitted from a subtler and perhaps more realistic belly. Anita Pipprell overcame some vocal issues at the start of the play, and was credible in her role of the nervous and unsettled Maggie 'the Cat', but overplayed her moments of sexuality and desire.

Some of the lighting design was unnecessary; lighting shifts during Brick's and Maggie's monologues did nothing but jar the flow of the play. Similarly the underscore during these reflective passages felt at odds with the rest of the strictly naturalistic production. The abrupt ending could have been finessed with a stronger development of the relationship between Maggie and Brick, and linger a moment or two longer with the fade to black.

There were flamboyant moments of overacting from the cast, with some actors pushing their lines for comedic or more dramatic effect. This is a text that requires subtlety, gentle angst and moments of explosion, but when the whole play is a shouting match, the audience stops listening

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