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WILKES-BARRE — If you’re wondering about the cat in the title of Tennessee Williams’ play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” local actors say it’s a reference to a beautiful but frustrated woman — and she’s not exactly a playful little kitten.

“Cats can be so loving. Then all of a sudden they stick you with their claws,” said Angel Berlane Mulcahy, of Wilkes-Barre, who has the meaty role of Maggie “the cat” in Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre’s production Feb. 17 through March 5.

“She’s slinky and slow, purposeful,” said castmate Joe Sheridan, of Kingston, who plays Maggie’s father-in-law, Big Daddy, and suggested to Mulcahy that Maggie should arch her back as she crawls across a bed, to further enhance her feline presence. “It’s not sexuality, but sensuality.”

It’s also complex, said director Walter Mitchell, of Bear Creek Village. “The characters Tennessee Williams has drawn have so many layers, it’s like peeling an onion.”

“If you’ve never seen the play before you ought to plan to see it more than once, or at least read it, or read a critical analysis beforehand,” Mitchell said.

If the Little Theatre production is your introduction to the Tennessee Williams classic, you’re about to meet Big Daddy and Big Mama’s favored son, Brick, an alcoholic with a broken foot, a wife he doesn’t seem to appreciate, and memories of the great time he had playing football with his college buddy, Skipper.

“At one time my life was perfect,” Dave Giordano, of Exeter said, speaking as his character, Brick. “I loved Maggie. I loved Skipper. I had both of them in my life.”

Were Skipper, now deceased, and Brick more than friends? If Brick was in love with Skipper, is that why he’s less than enthusiastic about marriage to Maggie?

“I’d rather leave it open to audience interpretation,” Giordano said. “In the time of the play, it was a big no-no.”

The play is set in the 1950s and, Sheridan said, that was a time when people paid a lot of attention to appearances.

“Women looked for a man who could support them. It was the June Cleaver ideal with apron and pearls,” he said. “Men looked for a woman they could dominate, who would give them children. And, when you’re so concerned with the status quo, you might not be true to you.”

“Big Daddy has a skewed view of love,” Sheridan noted.

“Joe and I have talked about what brought Big Daddy and Big Mama together,” said Carol Sweeney, of Shavertown, who plays the family matriarch. “Was it a marriage of convenience? Did they ‘have’ to get married?”

The older couple, who have a great deal of wealth, live with two sons, two daughters-in-law and the one son’s brood of children.

“There’s too much togetherness,” Sweeney said. “It’s almost like a cesspool.”

“Williams gives you a lot of puzzle pieces,” Sheridan said. “It’s up to you to fill in the background.”

Part of the plot hangs on the revelation that Big Daddy is very sick, and various family members and acquaintances are showing great interest in how his worldly goods might be distributed.

“We’re all plotting and planning,” Mulcahy said.

Following the Feb. 19 matinee, audience members are invited to remain for a talkbalk with Tennessee Williams scholar Annette J. Saddik, Ph.D. A professor of English and theatre at the City University of New York, Saddik specializes in drama of the 20th and 21st century, particularly Williams.

Maggie and Brick have a complicated relationship in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ The Tennessee Williams classic will be onstage at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre through March 6.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_cat2-2.jpg.optimal.jpgMaggie and Brick have a complicated relationship in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ The Tennessee Williams classic will be onstage at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre through March 6. Submitted photos

Maggie, played by Angel Berlane Mulcahy, tries to make her husband, Brick, played by Dave Giordano, see things her way in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_cat3-2.jpg.optimal.jpgMaggie, played by Angel Berlane Mulcahy, tries to make her husband, Brick, played by Dave Giordano, see things her way in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ Submitted photos

Maggie (Angel Berlane Mulcahy) announces to the family that she is carrying her husband Brick’s child. But is it a lie? Her brother-in-law and his wife certainly think so, and this is a family with a lot of lies.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_cat1-2.jpg.optimal.jpgMaggie (Angel Berlane Mulcahy) announces to the family that she is carrying her husband Brick’s child. But is it a lie? Her brother-in-law and his wife certainly think so, and this is a family with a lot of lies. Submitted photos
Tennessee Williams classic runs through March 5

By Mary Therese Biebel

[email protected]

IF YOU GO

What: ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’

Where: Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre

When: Feb. 17 through March 5 with performances 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Special talkback with Williams scholar Annette Saddik will follow Feb. 19 matinee

Info: 570-823-1875

Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT