By: Joan Gross
“My characters make my plays. I always start with them, they take spirit and body in my mind; nothing they say or do is arbitrary invented. They build the play about them like spiders weaving a web.” – Tennessee Williams
You find yourself in a southern plantation house where members of the family are celebrating the 65th birthday of the family patriarch, “Big Daddy.” The tone is upbeat, but the mood is somber, as a number of old evils poison the gaiety. You can experience the whole legend of Tennessee Williams ‘ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” Hillbarn Theatre from March 17 to April 10.
First produced in 1955, it was the winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Award for the best play of the 1954-55 Broadway season.
Big Daddy’s son Brick, a one-time star athlete, has a drinking problem and becomes cold toward his wife, Maggie, though she still desperately loves him. Brick’s older Brother Gooper and his wife hope to gain control over Big Daddy’s estate. Big Daddy has cancer, though only his family is told. As a result, the family’s accumulated lies , frustrations and secrets quickly begin to come out.
When Loring Robba was 11, this play was the first one she read. “Although I didn’t understand it at that time, I loved the language and found it very intriguing,” Robba said.
At Hillbarn, she acts the role of Maggie. Robba finds it wasy to place herself at the scene, since last fall she witnessed the death of her grandmother. “It was a dramatic experience for me. I just kept picking up this play and reading it. I began to understand what all the characters were going through, dealing with the patriarch dying,” Robba said.
Originally from New Orleans, Earle Carlson, who is cast as Brick, first saw the drama a few months ago. “I was struck by these southern characters displaying a lot of personality, larger than life,” Carlson said.
Richard Weingart makes his first appearance at Hillbarn Theatre as Big Daddy. “Big Daddy is not a loving, open patriarch. He’s come up the hard way, and the hardness shows,” Weingart said.
Hillbarn board chairman Lance Huntley performs as Doc Baugh. “The show is American drama at its finest. The show is about mendacity: the destructiveness of untruthfulness. That’s a lesson for the ages,” Huntley said. John Kirman returns to Hillbarn to direct this production. He most recently directed Hillbarn’s acclaimed musical “Hello Dolly.” “John has such a keen and well trained eye for the overall vision,” said artistic director Toni Tomei.
Assisting Kirman are Darren Hochstedler, scenic and lighting design; Mae Heagarty-Matos, costumes; and Peter Van Scherpe, sound design.
Hillbarn Theatre is located at 1285 East Hillsdale blvd., in Foster City. For tickets and information, call 349-6411, fax 340- 6412, email boxoffice@hillbarntheatre.org or visit www.hillbarntheatre.org.
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