Tennessee Williams Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

(4.5 stars; 13 reviews)

An adaptation of Tennessee Williams's classic 1950s drama set in the plantations of the American Deep South. Hypocrisy, greed and secret passions threaten to tear apart a dysfunctional family as they fight over a dying patriarch's millions. Big Daddy ...... Joss Ackland 
Big Mama ...... Gemma Jones
 Margaret ...... Elizabeth McGovern 
Brick ...... Marcus D'Amico
 Mae ...... Alison Steadman
Gooper ...... Clive Carter 
Rev Tooker ...... Roy Dotrice
 Dr Baugh ...... Kenneth Jay 
Lacey ...... Ben Onwukwe 
With Polly Dartford, Christopher Earley, Zara Mandel, Tristan Pegg as the children. Director: Andy Jordan "Radio 3 gathers all-star cast for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Joss Ackland and Gemma Jones have been lined up to star as Big Daddy and Big Mama in a major radio production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The two-hour production of the complete first version of Williams' play will be broadcast on March 16 on BBC Radio 3 and is being directed by Andy Jordan. It will also star Alison Steadman as Mae, Clive Carter as Cooper, Marcus D'Amico as Brick and Elizabeth McGovern as Maggie. The radio play, which will be produced by independent company Ladbroke Productions, is being billed as a highlight of the broadcaster's drama schedule and will run alongside a production of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac starring Kenneth Branagh" (The Stage Newspaper: Thursday 17 January 2008) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof first heated up Broadway in 1955 with its gothic American story of brothers vying for their dying father’s inheritance amid a whirlwind of sexuality, untethered in the person of Maggie the Cat. The play also daringly showcased the burden of sexuality repressed in the agony of her husband, Brick Pollitt. In spite of the public controversy Cat stirred up, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Circle Award for that year. Williams, as he so often did with his plays, rewrote Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for many years—the present version was originally produced at the American Shakespeare Festival in 1974 with all the changes that made Williams finally declare the text to be definitive, and was most recently produced on Broadway in the 2003–2004 season. This definitive edition also includes Williams&rsquoi; essay “Person-to-Person,” Williams’ notes on the various endings, and a short chronology of the author’s life. One of America’s greatest living playwrights, as well as a friend and colleague of Williams, Edward Albee has written a concise introduction to the play from a playwright’s perspective, examining the candor, sensuality, power, and impact of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof then and now. [Goodreads] Drama on 3: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Duration:: 2 hours Sunday 16th Mar 2008, 20:00 on BBC Radio 3

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.