Friday To-Do: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
“CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF”7:30 p.m., Weekend Theater. $18.
Maybe Tennessee Williams’ greatest play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is the story of a Southern family trapped in a Gordian knot of conflict. Hus-band Brick Pollitt and wife Maggie “The Cat” are stuck in the center. Theirs is a mostly dysfunctional relationship: He’s a neglectful husband, an aging ex-football star who doesn’t seem to care or notice that his brother is angling to take over the family fortune and who’s been steadily drunk since his “friend” Skipper offed himself. She’s a wit and a beauty, who’s climbed from poverty to marry into a wealthy family. The narrative follows one sweltering evening at the Pollitt family estate, where everyone’s gathered to celebrate the birthday of the patriarch and tycoon “Big Daddy.” Unbeknownst to him, Big Daddy is dying from cancer — his doctors and the family have conspired to keep him in the dark — and everyone is trying to present themselves in the best possible way in hopes of getting a piece of the Pollitt fortune. It’s an essential drama. The New York Times even went so far to call it “the quintessence of life … the basic truth.” Weekend performances continue through Sept. 9.
