Get on this Hot Tin Roof

Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" grabs the audience by the throat and shakes the life out of it. There's a simmering heat just under the surface of this angry family drama, and when it rises to the surface, watch out. The show continues the next two weekends, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St.\nThe play takes place in 1950's Mississippi, on Harvey 'Big Daddy' Pollitt's 65th birthday. We soon find out that Big Daddy has been ill, and has had tests done. The family knows the results, but they lie to him about the bad news. The two Pollitt sons, Brick and Gooper, swarm home when they learn that their father is dying, hoping for a bit of the inheritance.\nThe acting is excellent. Stephanie Harrison, who plays Maggie, is a force to be reckoned with. Now that opening night flubs are out of the way, her delivery is dead on, and her languid body language is more feline than human. Amy Wendling, who portrays Mae, is beautifully irritating. Mae is out to take over the world one pregnancy at a time, and Wendling pulls it off while keeping her sympathetic. She has a way of bustling in and out of scenes that completely characterize Mae. \nThe men of the cast are wonderful too. Mike Price's performance as Brick is stupendous, even though the role offers few chances for verbal excellence. Price's defeated character holds out until halfway through the play, when he explodes. His shame and outrage over his family's accusation of homosexuality is right on, and he brings a kind of eloquence to the role. \nJoe Gaines' Big Daddy is over the top -- I wanted to throw a dictionary at him, which is a sign of his good performance. Gaines plays Big Daddy exactly as Williams intended: insulting, gruff and arrogant.\nFor the most part, the Southern accents are good. Harrison is prone to over-drawling early on in the show, but she soon sounds every bit the Southern belle. Gaines is excellent. He tends to boom out his lines exactly like an ex-overseer would. Kevin Woodruff, who plays the doctor, is nearly unintelligible. Whether it is his accent or his beard which obstructs his speech, I couldn't understand him. \nThe set is unremarkable, simple and complementary to the plotline -- nothing extravagant, which is what is called for. \nThe costuming is excellent, feeling appropriate and often adding an extra dimension to the characters. Big Mama's ball gown is a lot like herself: character-oversized and airy, and Mae's costume simply screams 'social climber.' \nThe production's lighting is slightly strange, although it didn't do any major damage. A glass of water poured on stage left goes from dark yellow to clear as it crosses the set. And when the actors stand on stage right, they tend to look a bit jaundiced. \nThe audience reacted very well to the performance. A good portion of the attendees looked a little overwhelmed at times, but this is an incredibly intense show.\n In director Terence Hartnett's capable hands, the actors deliver a beautiful rendition of this classic play.