Rick Stear On His Portrayal and Poetry of Brick in 'Cat'

Rick Stear, currently playing the lead role of Brick in Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Dallas Theater Center, thinks he is very lucky to have been cast in the part.  "I love Williams' writing style," he stated to me in a recent conversation.  "It's poetic—there's a certain rhythm in place."  Mr. Stear explained a fine example of this is when Williams describes the 'click' in his head that Brick is trying to achieve:  "'Switch clicking off in my head, turning the hot light off and the cool night on and—all of a sudden there's—peace!'  I love saying those lines."

"I was attracted to Brick because he was very similar to a role I had already played—Edmund Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night.  I was drawn to Brick's sense of withdrawal, his anger, frustration and inner intensity.  I highly enjoy playing parts like these."

We discussed the fact that Brick is on-stage throughout most of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, yet he spends much of the time observing the other characters.  How do you play a character like that?  "Tennessee Williams wrote Brick to 'tune out' while on stage," he replied.  "That may work in a film, but not on stage—a character just can't only listen for 2 1/2  hours.  Richard Hamburger [Director of Dallas Theater Center's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof] directed me to be an 'engaging Brick.'  He asked me to take as much part in the action as possible through the use of facial expressions and gestures."

In the play, Brick is drinking throughout and gets more and more inebriated as the evening went on.  "I did not play Brick drunk," Mr. Stear emphatically stated.  "I used Tennessee Williams' language to imply that Brick was drunk.  You cannot act like a drunk as Brick—that would be performing contrary to Williams' writing.  I did enjoy playing 'the drunk' a bit in the third act.  I put some of that characterization into my walk and eyes."

The character of Brick has a broken ankle and uses a crutch throughout the entire play.  I asked Mr. Stear how he prepared for the physical aspects of the role.  "I slipped a disc while performing in The Pillowman in Los Angeles, so I had to withdraw.  My calf muscles atrophied and I required physical therapy.  When I began rehearsals for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I told the Director I wanted the cast on my stronger leg.  That way, I was hopping around on my bad leg and some of the physical pain I displayed was genuine."

"Speaking of the physical presence of the role," he added, "I was a little concerned at first about playing the part.  After all, Brick is a former professional Football Player and I'm only 5' 10".  However, I soon recognized that some Football Players such as Quarterbacks are smaller and I moved past that."

We concluded by discussing the climatic part of the play—when Brick tells his father, Big Daddy, that Big Daddy has cancer.  "I was directed to play that as a reflex action because Big Daddy had forced Brick to reveal one of his secrets.  It was this act of 'reflex aggression' that brought up the vulnerability of Brick."

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof continues at the Dallas Theater Center through November 5.  For more information, please visit their website.

 
 

Photos of Rick Stear in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof:  Loli Kantor 

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