Big Daddy Pollitt and his dysfunctional family are once again on stage at USCB Center for the Arts when it presents “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” by author Tennessee Williams
Big Daddy, who is dying but doesn’t know it, and his alcoholic son, Brick, use the word “mendacity” as a catch-all to describe various aspects of other family members’ greed, deceit and hypocrisy while unable or unwilling to face their own personal demons.
Brick’s wife, Maggie the Cat, observes that “the truth is as dirty as lies” as she scratches her way through the Pollitt family’s myths of marriage and family and tries to save her own marriage to a man who has no desire for her. She is also desperate to guarantee herself the security provided by his family’s wealth.
Thus, these three major characters reveal in their own dances of anger the frustration of what is reality and what is hidden under the blankets of denial.
Brick expresses his disgust with the “lies and the liars,” while Big Daddy counters, “You won’t live with it, but you’re an expert at it,” although he himself says he wants “a choice woman” to make up for 40 years of distaste he has had for his wife, Big Mama.
And then there is the other son, Gooper, who always did whatever his tyrannical father dictated but never got the recognition he felt he deserved, and his baby-popping wife, Mae, who feels they deserve to inherit Big Daddy’s wealth and will do whatever is necessary to get it.
So join Big Daddy and his conflicted family on March 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 at 7:30 p.m. night, or Sunday, March 18 at 3 p.m. at USCB Center for the Arts. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for senior/military, and $15 for youth. Groups rates available for 10 or more. For tickets, call the box office, 843-521-4145.
For additional information, contact the USCB Center for the Arts, 801 Carteret Street, 843 521-4145, or http://www.uscb.edu/community-outreach/center-for-the-arts.
