Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Updated: 12/20/2025, 12:34:40 PM Wikipedia source
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his personal favorite, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Set in the "plantation home in the Mississippi Delta" of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the play examines the relationships among members of Big Daddy's family, primarily between his son Brick and Maggie "the Cat", Brick's wife. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features motifs such as social mores, greed, superficiality, mendacity, decay, sexual desire, repression, and death. The dialogue throughout is often written using nonstandard spelling intended to represent accents of the Southern United States. The original production starred Barbara Bel Geddes, Burl Ives, and Ben Gazzara. The play was adapted as a film of the same name in 1958, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman as Maggie and Brick, with Ives and Madeleine Sherwood recreating their stage roles. Williams made substantial excisions and alterations to the play for a revival in 1974. This has been the version used for most subsequent revivals, which have been numerous.
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| Character | Broadway | West End | Broadway Revival | Broadway Revival | Broadway Revival | Broadway Revival | Broadway Revival | London Revival | Off-Broadway Revival | London Revival |
| 1955 | 1958 | 1974 | 1990 | 2003 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2022 | 2024 | |
| Margaret | Barbara Bel Geddes | Kim Stanley | Elizabeth Ashley | Kathleen Turner | Ashley Judd | Anika Noni Rose | Scarlett Johansson | Sienna Miller | Sonoya Mizuno | Daisy Edgar-Jones |
| Brick | Ben Gazzara | Paul Massie | Keir Dullea | Daniel Hugh Kelly | Jason Patric | Terrence Howard | Benjamin Walker | Jack O'Connell | Matt de Rogatis | Kingsley Ben-Adir |
| Big Daddy | Burl Ives | Leo McKern | Fred Gwynne | Charles Durning | Ned Beatty | James Earl Jones | Ciarán Hinds | Colm Meaney | Christian Jules le Blanc | Lennie James |
| Big Mama | Mildred Dunnock | Bee Duffell | Kate Reid | Polly Holliday | Margo Martindale | Phylicia Rashad | Debra Monk | Lisa Palfrey | Alison Fraser | Clare Burt |
| Gooper | Pat Hingle | Alan Tilvern | Charles Siebert | Kevin O'Rourke | Michael Mastro | Giancarlo Esposito | Michael Park | Brian Gleeson | Adam Dodway | Seb Carrington |
| Mae | Madeleine Sherwood | Daphne Anderson | Joan Pape | Debra Jo Rupp | Amy Hohn | Lisa Arrindell Anderson | Emily Bergl | Hayley Squires | Tiffan Borelli | Pearl Chanda |
| Doctor Baugh | Armstrong | Launce Maraschal | William Larsen | Jerome Dempsey | Edwin C. Owens | Count Stovall | Brian Reddy | Richard Hansell | Jim Kempner | Guy Burgess |
| Reverend Tooker | Fred Stewart | Roger Winton | Wyman Pendleton | Nesbitt Blaisdell | Patrick Collins | Lou Myers | Vin Knight | Michael J. Shannon | Milton Elliott | Derek Hagen |
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 1955 | New York Drama Critics' Circle | Best American Play | Tennessee Williams | Won |
| Pulitzer Prize | Drama | Won | ||
| 1956 | Tony Award | Best Play | Nominated | |
| Best Actress in a Play | Barbara Bel Geddes | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Elia Kazan | Nominated | ||
| Best Scenic Design | Jo Mielziner | Nominated | ||
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 1975 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Play | Elizabeth Ashley | Nominated |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Set Design | John Conklin | Nominated |
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 1990 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Play | Kathleen Turner | Nominated |
| Best Featured Actor in a Play | Charles Durning | Won | ||
| Best Featured Actress in a Play | Polly Holliday | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Revival | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Charles Durning | Won | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Won | ||
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Charles Durning | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Kathleen Turner | Nominated | ||
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2004 | Tony Award | Best Featured Actress in a Play | Margo Martindale | Nominated |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Ned Beatty | Won | |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Margo Martindale | Nominated | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Ned Beatty | Won | |
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Margo Martindale | Nominated | ||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Revival of a Play | Nominated | ||
| Year | Award ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2008 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | James Earl Jones | Won |
References
- Joseph Pulitzer Jr. pressured the prize jury into presenting the Prize to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which the jury consider
- Williams, Tennessee. Plays 1937–1955. Mel Gussow and Kenneth Holditch, eds. New York: Library of America, 2000, .mw- .mw
- Parker, Brian: "Swinging a Cat", as published within Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 175. New York: New Directions Publishing
- Williams, Tennessee: "Notes for the Designer", Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 15. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004
- Williams, Tennessee: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 173. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004.
- Williams, Tennessee: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 14. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004.
- Parker, Brian: "Swinging a Cat", published within Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 177. New Directions Publishing Corporation,
- Parker, Brian: "Swinging a Cat", published within Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 181. New Directions Publishing Corporation,
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- "Tony Awards"http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search?start=0&year=&award=&lname=Elia+Kazan&fname=&show=
- theguardian.comhttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/sep/30/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof
- [8] Williams, Tennessee. Plays 1937–1955, pp. 1034–1035.
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: The Playbill for the Morosco Theatre
- Theatre World Annual (London) number nine [editor: Frances Stephens], London 1958
- Albee, Edward: "Introduction" for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 8. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004.
- Williams, Tennessee: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 13. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004.
- theatricalia.comhttps://theatricalia.com/play/5kr/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof/production/c90
- www.thisistheatre.comhttp://www.thisistheatre.com/londonshows/catonahottinroof.html#2001
- Belvoir St Theatrehttps://web.archive.org/web/20210927105458/https://belvoir.com.au/news/cat-goes-to-theatre-royal/
- "Cat West End"http://www.catwestend.com/
- Playbillhttps://web.archive.org/web/20130103134414/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/170231-Benjamin-Walker-Debra-Monk-and-Ciaran-Hinds-Will-Join-Scarlett-Johansson-in-Broadways-Cat-on-a-Hot-Tin-Roof
- troyrecordhttps://www.troyrecord.com/opinion/john-grays-fade-to-gray-column-beaver-on-a-hot-tin-roof/article_2b6a9d02-f09a-54d0-8288-0f028d2153fa.html
- "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/cat-on-hot-tin-roof-nt-at-home
- www.theatermania.comhttps://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-starring-sienna-miller-joins_92006.html
- "Ruth Stage and the Little Cat on a Hot Tin Roof That Can | Playbill"https://www.playbill.com/article/ruth-stage-and-the-little-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-that-can
- Almeida Theatrehttps://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof/#cast-creatives
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/sep/20/daisy-edgar-jones-star-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-tennessee-williams-almeida-theatre-normal-people
- Playbillhttps://www.playbill.com/production/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-anta-playhouse-vault-0000005262
- Playbillhttps://www.playbill.com/production/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-eugene-oneill-theatre-vault-0000004704
- Playbillhttps://www.playbill.com/production/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-music-box-theatre-vault-0000002570
- Playbillhttps://www.playbill.com/production/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-broadhurst-theatre-vault-0000001990
- Playbillhttps://www.playbill.com/production/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-richard-rodgers-theatre-vault-0000013984
- Williams, Tennessee: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, p. 12. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004.
- emanuellevy.comhttps://emanuellevy.com/review/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-1958-9/
- Varietyhttps://variety.com/2021/film/news/antoine-fuqua-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-exclusive-1234956683/
- Fischer, Heinz-Dietrich & Erika J. Fischer. The Pulitzer Prize Archive: A History and Anthology of Award-Winning Materia