Review: CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF Sizzles at Round House

Brick, the fermenting favorite son in Tennessee Williams' masterpiece, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof says that there are two ways out of life: death and liquor. Brick is trying to escape his life with the latter, while Big Daddy is facing the first. Father and son are so far away from each other that when the climax of the show occurs during the second act, you see the intersection between one who wants to live and one who wants to forget.

In the current production running at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Director Mitchell Hébert has used the intersection of life and death to put together a glorious and haunting production. When Rick Foucheux (Big Daddy) takes any stage he is on, he commands you to listen. The second act duet between father and son was so on point that Mr. Hébert's decision to turn Big Daddy upstage a number of times added to the uneasy tension as a son recounts the reason for his alcoholism. Mr. Foucheux is on fire on a hot southern night. Dressed in costume designer Ivania Stack's sweat stained seersucker, Big Daddy is facing his mortality while trying to reach his favorite son. As Brick, Gregory Wooddell convincingly plays a damaged soul who is going through life on a (literal) crutch. But he has other crutches besides his alcoholism and that is his relationship with the titular character, Maggie.

Maggie and Brick, the unhappily married couple are battling each other over love, sexuality, and family. As Maggie, Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan inhabits Maggie sultry and feline movements with great ease. Her mastery of Mr. Williams' verbose dialogue hits the mark with the subtext, which she plays extremely well, her dialect does not match up to the rest of her character. Over all, the faux-Southern accents around the ensemble vary from adequate to passing, with the exception of Mr. Foucheux and Sarah Marshall (as the hysterical and tragic Big Momma), who are not only are the patriarchs of the family, but of the cast as well.

The southern estate which sprawls across the Bethesda theatre is gorgeously designed by Meghan Raham and dramatically lit by Andrew R. Cissna. Together Ms. Raham and Mr. Cissna create a stunningly visual world. Adding to that effect, Christopher Baine's sound design is beyond extraordinary. From the show long soundscape of a hot Southern night to his sexy original composition that is definitely inspired from the sultriness of Maggie.

Southern accents aside, this production is a gorgeous hit. As a cold spell is hitting DC during this strange Spring weather, the heat is on in Bethesda and the temperature inside is blazing with emotion. Death and liquor may be two ways to escape life, according to Brick, but if you want to escape reality for a little bit and escape the cold spring, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a good way to feel the burn.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof runs through April 24, 2016 at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, 4545 East-West Highway. For tickets call 240-644-1100 or visit their online box office.

Photo credits: Cheyenne Michaels

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