Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ★★★★ Almeida Theatre | Dec 10, 2024 - Feb 1, 2025


Big Daddy's birthday is a night to remember! There are some strong performances in Tennessee Williams' classic, but it does seem like an unnecessarily drawn out affair. Daisy Edgar-Jones takes on the role of Maggie the cat, and she does a lot of cat-like crawling to make sure we get it. She is matched in these feline frolics by Seb Carrington who plays the ghost of Skipper, the real love of Maggie's husband, Brick. However, the constant stage presence of Skipper's spirit does seem an unnecessarily heavy-handed way of reminding us of his haunting importance. While Edgar-Jones' portrayal manages to wring a lot of the fury and frustration out of the role of Maggie, her scenes with husband, Brick, played by Kingsley Ben-Adir, never quite rise to the emotional intensity of his interaction with Big Daddy in Act II. It is notoriously difficult to play drunk, and Ben-Adir does so in a masterful performance that is wonderfully understated. His searing, soul-baring, exchanges with Lennie James' Big Daddy are absolutely spellbinding. As Big Mama, Clare Burt neatly prefigures what Maggie will become, and her vain protestations of love and hollow pretences of normalcy ring achingly aspirational. However, it is unclear, why Director Rebecca Frecknall, who emended Willams' text elsewhere, left in so many references to Big Mama's being fat, when Burt so clearly is not. Plaudits must also go to Ukweli Roach and Pearl Chanda as Brick’s brother, Gooper, and his greedy, ingratiating wife, Mae. They are quite sublime embodiments of that mendacity which Brick and Big Daddy so insistently deplore. This is a family affair that's full of regrets, recriminations, and revelations, but Big Daddy's birthday also proves to be a nice present for those who appreciate powerful theatrical moments.

Rated: ★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Marc Brenner

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When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: Almeida St, London N1 1TA, UK

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