By Julia Leonard
Staff reporter
“What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof? I wish I knew. Just staying on it, I guess, as long as she can,” said the character Maggie in Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
Sacred Heart University’s Theatre Arts Program’s production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opened on Thursday, March 15 in the Little Theatre.
I attended the evening performance on March 17, and the show was full of laughing, crying, fighting and much more.
The play takes place during the 1950s in Mississippi, where a family gathers at the family estate on the plantation to celebrate Big Daddy’s 65th birthday.
The first act starts with a married couple, Maggie and Brick. Arts & Entertainment Editor for the Spectrum, senior Jordan Norkus, plays a phenomenal Maggie; a woman who was longing for her husband’s love and attention. Junior Matt Henshaw played Brick, a miserable drunk who needs to drink to the point of hearing a “click” in his head.
The audience gets an inside look at the failing marriage. Maggie is manipulative of Brick. She wants his attention and a child so they can take over the cotton plantation once Big Daddy is gone.
Gooper, played by sophomore Justin Weigel, is the oldest son of Big Daddy and Big Mama. Gooper and his wife, Mae, played by senior Katherine Horne, were two flies on the walls. They always knew what was happening, especially when it came to Brick and Maggie’s marriage.
Two characters who always had something great to say was the Reverend Tooker, played by junior Kevin Carlson, and the Doc, played by sophomore Sven Vogel.
Big Daddy, played by senior Patrick Robinson, owns the biggest cotton plantation. Big Mama, played by senior Nicole Jablonski, lives with him.
The family is dealing with the fact that Big Daddy is dying of cancer. However, on his 65th birthday, the family receives news from the Ochsner Clinic that he is “cancer-free.”
Viewing the family’s interaction throughout the night was incredible to see the story evolve.
When I first saw the set design, I was curious about how an entire play was going to take place in a bedroom. In this play, you feel that you are a part of the family.
Sitting in the audience, you felt as if you were involved in the bickering or the family chats. When Brick and Maggie fought, you felt as if you were there with them. When Brick and Big Daddy have their private conversation, you felt as if you were in the room finding out more about each of them.
The costumes and props were set to the time period. The dresses and suits fit, and the furniture was unique to the time with the traditional rugs and the antique bed frame, chairs and armoire. The phone was even a picture-perfect fit to the time. Everything was a spitting image of what a 1950s bedroom would look like.
I did not know what to expect when I went to see this show. I was skeptical at first, due to the interesting title of the play. However, as I watched the plot evolve and got more details about the family, I was intrigued. I watched the play in amazement.
I absolutely loved the play and would see it again. The acting was amazing, everything was great.
If you didn’t get a chance to see the show during its first weekend, there are four more shows: Thursday, March 22 through Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 25 at 3 p.m.
