Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Written by Tennessee Williams

Narrated by Edward Albee

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 sxuality, untethered in the person of Maggie the Cat. The play also daringly showcased the burden of sxuality 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 2003-04 season. This definitive edition also includes Williams' 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HN Publishing
• Release date: Jun 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781987139914

Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is an American playwright and author of many stage classics, including The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He also wrote poetry, essays, memoirs, and short stories.

Reviews for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

[Jack Pommer · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Fine play, but this recording is awful. The acts are cut short and abruptly start the following act, leaving out a lot of important dialog. Makes the play incomprehensible.

[10orabolas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Demolishing play about what is really at stake in family relationships.

[Gina Stavropoulou · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Please fix this audio. It is not the whole play, parts are repeated, huge parts are missing, and acts are not in the correct order. Makes zero sense.

[Bealibra30 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Williams enveloped you in a tangle of fears, traumas, desires, hopes, heartbreak... His reader (or viewer) ends up trapped just like if the text were a spider's web.
His characters are intense, extremists in their ideas and feelings.
All of them seem like animals imprisoned in their luxurious cage, reminiscing about happy times, fantasizing about future riches, blaming others for their misfortunes, or terrified of death.
I don't usually read plays because they are somewhat more confusing than a novel, but I remember having seen this play on opening night when I was a teenager and obviously the movie.
This author is always interesting; I recommend him to you. (Translated from Spanish)

[jarabetica · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

July 2023 Book 65 ?????

Let me start by saying that there is an impressive movie from 1958; in this case, the movie led me to the book. The lead actors, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, could not be more beautiful; his blue eyes and her violet color are equally captivating. Anyone who hasn't seen it is missing out on a classic film and the chance to be mesmerized in front of the screen, with a magnificent performance from both. I had a very clear image of my protagonists.

Now, let's get to the book; I digress. Even though I knew it inside out, it continues to surprise me—those intelligent and piercing dialogues, the tension, the passions, and the raw emotions that leap from the pages. The author wrote it after A Streetcar Named Desire, which was also adapted into a film.

We are facing a play in three acts, where the action unfolds in just about two hours in the Pollitts’ room, Margaret and Brick, in a southern plantation in the Mississippi delta. This young couple isn't going through their best moment due to his alcohol addiction after injuring himself, having been a well-known athlete.

The family gathers for the grandfather's birthday and his supposed recovery from illness, and that's when the interests of each family member will come to light regarding the possible inheritance. Greed and envy make the differences between the siblings a gamble for future prominence: Cooper with five children, "the no-neck kids," and another on the way, while Brick has no children and a marriage that is falling apart.

Highly recommended because you will undoubtedly enjoy it; the book is very short and can be read in just about an hour. It can serve for challenges like a play, a book set in a single day, a film adaptation, a prize winner, under 100 pages, or an animal in the title... (Translated from Spanish)

[Nuryta · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams

A short play, easy and pleasant to read. It talks about a family; the grandmother is the woman of the past, self-sacrificing and devoted to her husband, children, and grandchildren. The grandfather, a tough, macho man, somewhat dissatisfied, hard-working, and suspicious of his children's performance. Among the children, now with their own families, a controversy arises, as in light of the grandfather's apparent illness, it becomes necessary to determine who will take control of the properties and their benefits.

With just that, we prepare for a battle of love, jealousy, revenge, ambition, resentment, and many other feelings that are vividly expressed with raw and meaningful language that clearly reflects the hot tin. Now, who is the cat on the roof? In the reading group, we had some differences of opinion, but undoubtedly, it is a brave woman who knows when to make the right decisions for the good of her family.

A fun and thought-provoking read at the same time. Highly recommended.

Read in February 2023 (Translated from Spanish)

[midoriAG · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We are faced with a theatrical work better known for its film adaptation, which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in 1958.

The play takes place in a Southern mansion in Mississippi situated on a cotton plantation, where the family gathers to celebrate the grandfather's anniversary. Due to his illness, they end up disputing the inheritance.

In less than a hundred pages, we encounter well-crafted characters, each with distinctive traits, showcasing a facade of superficiality, greed, and resentment that contrasts with their deep inner weaknesses, making it impossible for them to confront their own fears and insecurities.

Through brilliant, raw dialogues filled with significant emotional weight, we learn about the different ways each family member navigates the situation. In an increasingly uncomfortable atmosphere among them, long-buried secrets will be uncovered that have led to their current crisis. Issues between couples, siblings, and parents and children will become evident. Lies, jealousy, envy, resentment, and ambition will come to light, and the tension will build until it erupts.

It is striking how naturally homosexuality is discussed in an era when it was still avoided in conversation.

A work that keeps the reader in suspense from start to finish, with an agile reading pace and great dynamism. A drama written with great mastery, making this book an essential and highly recommended read for all theater lovers. (Translated from Spanish)

[FMaluenda · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hypocrisy helps us maintain human relationships without destroying ourselves, but when the most essential aspects of your life are based on lies and involve the closest people, it is the deceitful who ultimately crumble, and there is no way to go back because trust has irretrievably vanished. Lies and envy are the central themes of this marvelous play published in 1955, awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and adapted into a film by Richard Brooks in 1958, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman as the main actors. (Translated from Spanish)

[MartaZar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this play, Tennessee Williams presents us with a seemingly simple but, at the same time, very elaborate plot, dealing with themes such as hypocrisy, appearances, and the relationships between parents and children...

It is surprising how he conveys the concerns and thoughts of the characters and how deception becomes another protagonist, for one's own benefit or that of a third party.

He presents us with dual characters, intelligent and strong in external aspects, yet very weak when it comes to facing themselves.

It is a highly recommended work for reading, easy to read and very well written. (Translated from Spanish)

[meropsapiaster · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A highly recommended read about the light and shadow of a family, pain, and guilt. You may see yourself in certain characters or observe a situation that is unfamiliar to few: family dynamics that persist over the years, difficult to change. (Translated from Spanish)

[MarMonkey92 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A work full of promptness and dynamism in the dialogues. The emotional weight is very strong, and there is a lot of rawness in the family relationships and the dialogues, which, it is also understood, go hand in hand with that Southern imprint it reflects. A family gathering where the characters bring out resentments and truths, filling the "proscenium" of the page with that cathartic intention. The very personal stage directions add color and depth and are full of reflections and poetry. The characters also have poetic touches that recall Lorca-like figures and are linked to human vices or inconsistencies. It reads quickly, it permeates you, and despite being read, it achieves that emotional involvement of theater. (Translated from Spanish)

[Hugo SC · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the drama category, this play of just ninety pages takes place in a single room of a Southern mansion in the United States. As the afternoon darkens behind the windows, the crisis affecting this family's relationships finally erupts due to the underlying struggle for inheritance. Greed, resentment, hatred, decay, superficiality, lies, jealousy, immorality, and all kinds of dirty games unfold in the small room, nearly causing it to explode. In the same vein, but with the opposite effect for the reader, the constant sharp exchanges between the cat and her sister-in-law, and vice versa, season the work with a tense and piercing humor that is greatly appreciated. It is, therefore, a brief yet great work whose simple and swift reading proves to be very satisfying. (Translated from Spanish)