Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

Last night I saw the opening night of GRADS' latest offering , "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Dolphin (UWA). SUPERB! I could quite happily leave it like that as a one word, shortest ever, review. However, I have this huge keyboard which needs to justify it's existence, so I'll crap on a bit more. Director Barry Park has guided this production beautifully, with both finesse and power. Perhaps it is fair to say that Tennessee Williams has made it easy for both Director and Cast to excel, by providing them a tightly structured and artfully worded piece featuring drama, humour, shock, emotion, light and dark, love and hate - all in skillfully metered doses. Having said that though, both Director and Cast have grasped all those factors with both hands and hearts, and used them to damn near perfection. Georgina Gayler, playing Maggie "The Cat", gets the play off to a riveting start in the almost soliloquy Act 1. She does reappear later, but this opening act is the tour de force, giving her the opportunity to explore such a range: determination, frustration, sexiness, vulnerability, fire and ice. This is one of the very great roles for a woman in theatre and Georgina did a fabulous job on it. Act 2 lets the main male players display their talents. Paul Montague as Big Daddy and Neal Huxley as Brick show us the ugly awkwardness of men attempting to discuss serious issues. If it aint business or sport, guys have a lot of trouble knowing how they feel about "stuff", and this is beautifully, painfully, displayed. The "lesser" cast members eventually get a chance in the ensemble of Act 3 and really nobody put a foot or a word wrong. Throughout the performance, I was thoroughly impressed by the consistency of the Southern US accents, and every face, voice and body language seemed proper at every moment. Even the children! My own preference lies in "lighter" theatre than this, but as a long term member and supporter of GRADS, I can say that I'm immensely proud to see them mount this production. A truly great play, performed in truly superb fashion. Buy a ticket - you will not regret it. Dolphin Theatre, 3-6 and 10-13 November, 7.30. Book at BOCS.