Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ does justice to Tennessee Williams

Yeah, Tennessee Williams still has it.

Sixty-one years after his “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s production of the classic proves that Williams’ words and characters are still as arresting and vibrant as they were in the 1950s.

The story takes place on a Mississippi plantation, where former football star Brick and his wife, Maggie, have gathered with Brick’s brother and sister-in-law for their father’s 65th birthday. Big Daddy hasn’t yet been told what the rest of the family knows: that he’s dying of cancer. And Maggie is desperate to keep her and Brick’s share of the inheritance out of the hands of her nosy in-laws.

Ellen Kirk as Maggie, whose white dress and short, curled hair undeniably evoke Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 movie version, opens the play gossiping while Brick nurses a broken ankle and glass after glass of whiskey. Kirk’s charisma puts you on Maggie’s side from the beginning, and the play takes off on the strength of her one-sided conversation, where the wounds festering between Maggie and Brick gradually come into focus.

Maggie has been trying to keep up the appearance of their marriage while she endures jabs at her childlessness — Brick refuses to sleep with her — and Brick’s alcoholism after the suicide of his friend.

“Cat’s” sexual themes, which had to be toned down for the film version, now play as nuanced and understated. Matt Leonard sells Brick’s inner conflict and guilt, and his breakdown during a fraught conversation with Big Daddy at the end of the second act is the high point of the show.

As Big Daddy, Scott Cordes delivers speeches full of hesitation and repetition, which brings an element of verisimilitude to the bombastic character and allows moments of empathy to shine through when he reaches out to his son.

Despite a three-hour running time, the play never drags. The first two acts, especially, sizzle when they are stripped down to two characters in a room talking.

The entire play takes place in Brick and Maggie’s bedroom. To keep things from feeling too claustrophobic, Karen Paisley’s set design places French doors around the stage and uses the suggested hallways and balconies for more movement and breathing space.

Side characters like Brick’s brother, Gooper, sister-in-law, Mae, and their five children break in during the show’s emotional high-pitch moments to break up the tension with some uncomfortable comic relief.

Williams’ plays are masterpieces of self-deception and unresolved longing. The long, wordy speeches of his script start out sounding a little too conspicuously stagey, but when the actors hit their rhythm, the play transcends its era and feels as emotionally true and intense as any contemporary drama.

▪ The Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” runs through May 28 at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, 3614 Main. Tickets are $15-49 through MetKC.org. The running time is about three hours with three acts and two intermissions.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ does justice to Tennessee Williams."