“Skipper and me had a clean, true thing between us!–had a clean friendship, practically all our lives, till Maggie got the idea you’re talking about. Normal? No!–It was too rare to be normal, any true thing between two people is too rare to be normal.” – Brick in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

It is Big Daddy’s (a scrappy and domineering Christian Jules Le Blanc) birthday, and his family gathers at his Mississippi estate to celebrate. In addition to kin, the infamous Pandora arrives uninvited and (yet again) empties out her box of life’s miseries. The party quickly morphs into a nightmare. Brick’s wife Maggie (a lithe and whiny Sonoya Mizuno) leaves the party to announce that Big Daddy has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, that the family is trying to cut Brick (a sensuous, brooding, and broken Matt De Rogatis) out of his father’s will, and they want to send him into rehab at Rainbow Hill. A lot to take when just getting out of the shower with a bit of a buzz on.

But none of this surprises Brick. He knows Maggie will do anything to “rekindle the flame” in their marriage. She knows unless she and Brick have a child, Brick’s older brother Cooper, his wife Mae, and their “no neck monsters” will inherit Big Daddy’s estate. And she also knows that she and Brick will not have a child because Brick no longer loves Maggie and believes she never loved him. Maggie assumes Brick is gay since he has no interest in her: she confesses what Brick already knows: she “made love” with Brick’s friend Skipper to prove he was not gay which would prove Brick was not gay. That encounter left Brick drinking over much and Skipper dead.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a complex play with a series of long monologues that tease the edges of spoken word and lyric poetry. Maggie’s opening monologue contains much of the exposition the audience needs to engage in a meaningful way with the rest of the play. Unfortunately, much of what Sonoya Mizuno says is indecipherable. This is a result of both her delivery and an inadequate sound system, both the fault of Joe Rosario’s uneven direction and Ben Levine’s sound design. Thankfully both Matt De Rogatis and Christian Jules Le Blanc deliver Brick’s monologue and Big Daddy’s monologue with sheer beauty. If it were not for these two actors and Alison Fraser (who gives the audience a towering and feisty Big Mamma), this production would have failed completely. If only Big Daddy, Big Mamma, and Brick could have divined the entrails of mendacity on their own without the rest of the family and friends.

The confrontation between husband and wife and the apparent incongruity between youth and age, past and present, wealth and poverty, homosexuality and heterosexuality, truth and lies, love and hate, life and death defined the themes of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” when it was first produced in 1955. Because Ruth Stage’s production moves the time to the present, these themes need to be reimagined: the confrontation between couples and the apparent incongruity between generations, past and present, the one percent and the rest, the straight cisgender community, and the LGBTQ+ community, mendacity and truthfulness, love and indifference, life, and life-beyond-life.

These contemporary themes surface early and resolve late in Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” currently playing at The Theater at St. Clements. This is the first production of the Tennessee Williams play the estate has allowed to be produced Off-Broadway. It might seem that members of the LGBTQ+ community have received a broader societal acceptance in the recent past. However, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals are on the rise and the Supreme Court has signaled considering a reversal of the same-sex marriage.

Whether or not Brick is gay is not the central conflict in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” What is central is Brick’s quest for authenticity, honesty, and acceptance. He wants that talk with his father that is not an exercise in mendacity. He wants to be able to celebrate his relationship with Skipper and have the freedom to define the nature of that relationship for himself. This is a vital theme for today’s theater audience: the challenge sexual status and gender identity bring to the conversation about agency and authenticity.

Matt De Rogatis (Brick), Christian Jules Le Blanc (Big Daddy), and Alison Fraser (Big Mamma) leave surface far behind the minute they engage with one another in the stage. With surgical precision, each actor cuts to the core of their character, paying no attention to sinews, musculature, artery, or vein. Nothing is wasted in their performances, nor is anything wanting. Mr. De Rogatis’ performance is stunning in every way. Mr. Le Blanc and Ms. Fraser equally fill the stage with authenticity, grit, and honesty. Their performances, and their performances only make this “Cat” successful. Focus on their work, therein you will find the splendor of Tennessee Williams’s words. The rest for now is unimportant.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” closes on Sunday, August 14. Before then, it is worth the visit to The Theatre of St. Clements to enter the surgical suite of Tennessee Williams’s play where the underbelly of substance abuse, addiction, sorrow, curiosity, dysfunction, and hopelessness is laid bare.

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

The cast of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” includes Christian Jules Le Blanc, Tiffan Borelli, Matt de Rogatis, Milton Elliott, Alison Fraser, Carly Gold, Sonoya Mizuno, Austin Pendleton, and Spencer Scott.

The creative team includes scenic design by Matt Imhoff, lighting design by Steve Wolf, sound design by Ben Levine, and Jesse Meckl as the stage manager.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” closed at The Theater at St. Clements (423 West 46^th Street) on Sunday, August 14, 2022.

Photo: Matt de Rogatis at Brick in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Credit: Miles Skalli.