Emma Pell on "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Gate Theatre, June 9

A beautifully furnished bedroom, complete with a chandelier and bay windows, opens the Gate Theater’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” The set immediately provides the audience with material representations of the major themes and conflicts present in the play. The wallpaper covering the bedroom wall shows criss-crossing thorny vines that bloom into flowers at their ends. The vines present a visualization of the reality of the characters’ lives which are complicated and cruel; the flowers stand as that which they present to the outside world- a beautiful and enviable life.

Another physical aspect of the set which elucidates the subtext is the bedroom’s closet, which is literally hidden in the wall- unnoticeable until Maggie flings it open and searches for a new party dress among the frills of her beautiful dresses. Just as the very existence of the closet is hidden, so too was the topic of homosexuality in Southern society in the 1950s. This bit of the set gives the term “in the closet” a literal manifestation of the issues and prejudice that Brick struggles with throughout the play, through the memory of his friend Skipper.

The idea of excess is another textual aspect of the play reflected in the set. The set contains excess technology, liquor and furniture, showing the excesses which were presented through the play regarding superficial and negative things such as noise, children, anger and resentment, and deception. This excess was sharply contrasted with the vast lack within the show: lack of love, compassion, connection, and communication between and among the characters both textually and (hopefully unintentionaly) within the production.

Fiona O’Shaughnessy in the role of Maggie utilizes feline physicality to a ridiculous extreme. Though Maggie is described both by herself as a “cat on a hot tin roof” and by Brick as “Maggie the cat,” her dance-like movements and motions caused cocked eyebrows at the choice of the actress, rather than a desire for a sexy character, or even pity for a character failing to be sexy. Her physical presence drew the audiences’ attention to Fiona O’Shaughnessy as an actress instead of inciting speculation into Maggie’s poverty stricken past or the precarious nature of her marriage, or her place in Big Daddy’s house while she remains childless.

In contrast to O’Shaughnessy’s over the top approach to Maggie, Richard Flood’s presentation of Brick was understated to the point of being wholly overlooked. Flood physically resembles Marlon Brando in the film adaptation of Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”, but lacked any of the intricacies of character, or any credible emotions that might have taken the comparison between the two actors (playing very similar characters in these two plays) anywhere beyond physical similarities. He drank too much alcohol to realistically be conscious by the end of the play, yet failed to act drunk, and then produced random drunken outbursts without any buildup or believability. Rather than delving into the complex self-hatred and questioning surrounding Brick’s relationship with Skipper and the possible homosexual feelings involved, Flood yelled them away.

Big Daddy (played by Owen Roe) is meant to see himself in his son Brick, their similarities garnering Brick the status of favored son to Big Daddy. This “like father like son” mentality was lost, due to the success of Roe in finding the humanity of a textually inhumane character, but the failure of Flood to do so. Roe’s stage presence attracted as much, if not more, attention than O’Shaughnassy’s, but his did so in a way that made the audience want to know what Big Daddy was doing and saying without Roe as an actor being pulled in the picture.

Marion O’Dwyer and Donna Dent as Big Mama and Mae (respectively) were both over the top presentations of the mother, neither giving the family nor the cast anything to aspire to. Their emotions and reactions were predictable, yet still implausible. O’Dowyer and Dent gave into the superficial appearance of their characters without bothering to find the humanity or objectives of Southern mothers. They used their children for the purpose of pleasing Big Daddy without becoming mothers or finding motherly love. At least O’Shaughnessy (and Maggie) made no pretense of being a domestic figure with any compassion.

The contrast between the stylized presentation of the women within the play (and the additional variations of stylization between he individual actresses, including O’Shaughnassy’s physical movements, Dent’s ridiculous facial expressions, and O’Dwyer’s caricature of a Southern mother), the realistic presentation of Big Daddy, and the lack of anything redeeming about Brick as a character (or of Flood’s acting of him), created a fragmented feel to the show that was reconciled only in moments of monologue when interaction was not an issue. If such fragmentation was a directorial choice, one could certainly argue that it highlights the disparities within the family, in rank, power, and position within the familial framework. However, whether directional or accidental, the presentation of the characters in these varying ways fails to explore the poignancy of the fact that the characters are all, in some ways, the same. All of the characters share the same sorts of desires and failings though they manifest differently within each character. Everyone on stags was kept at arms length both by their acting techniques, and by the chemistry (or lack thereof) between the various members of the family.

Even moments of good acting, connection, etc. were destroyed by the horrific Southern accents of every member of the cast. Everyone lapsed back into Irish accents either for various words (as was the case for Roe and O’Shaughnassy) or for entire chunks of text (as was the case for Flood). In addition, everyone seemed to be attempting an accent from a different Southern state, and some even switched between several (most notably O’Shaughnassy, who mainly spoke with a Louisiana accent, but lapsed into something reminiscent of an Alabama accent when she didn’t slip into Irish). Any possibility of losing oneself in the production was destroyed by these inaccuracies and incongruities.

This production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, by The Gate Theater, in contemporary Ireland involves some interesting implications and comments on Irish society and values. The idea of the family for Americans is very much a cynical one, with 50% of marriages ending in divorce, and the average number of children per family rapidly declining. In this way, this play is very much American- exploring the failings and unpleasant aspects of family life. While the United States constitution delineates rights for the individual, the Irish constitution delineates rights for the family. The rhetoric of the Irish constitution implies the inherent presence of a mother, necessitating children and a spousal relationship. This is the conflict faced by Maggie within the play, who has no children and is therefore looked down upon by the other characters. The dysfunction of the whole family- mothers, mere wife, husband, and sons alike- implicates this play as a critique of the family and the pedestal on which it is placed, rather than a pro-familial statement so prevalent in a Catholic country. Divorce having been made legal in Ireland only in the mid ‘90s, the question of familial values, definitions, and hierarchies, are current issues still being dealt with in contemporary Ireland. The metamorphosis of acceptable values make this production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” particularly interesting, as it addresses the traditional family values and their consequences both for individuals within the family and for the family structure as a whole.

The beauty of a work such as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'” is it's ability to maintain profundity over time and space. As life in Ireland continues to evolve, so to does the meaning of this work to Ireland and to its performers and audiences. The Gate Theater's production of an American play, by Irish actors, commenting on Irish life and cultural changes, elucidates the universal nature of familial life and discord, with an eloquence and poignancy only Tennessee Williams is capable of. 

One of the most exciting things about our trip has been discovering that the actors hang out at the theatre after most shows.  Many production mysteries have been illuminated through these casual conversations!  Here are many of our students with actors from the Gate Production including Owen Roe, a student favorite as Big Daddy.