Cat On a Rain-Sodden Roof does not have the same ring, but the Corn Exchange's take on Tennessee Williams is more damp than steamy. Director Annie Ryan transposes the action from Memphis to County Clare: when Big Daddy's family gathers around him for his 65th birthday, their flashy clothes locate their conspicuous wealth and greed close to home.
This company's trademark performance style uses extreme characterisations to create a heightened effect - though this is not always necessary here, given the intense hothouse atmosphere evoked by Williams. Joan O'Clery's costumes win the most laughs: from eldest son Gooper's lurid, diamond-patterned golf sweater, to the Riverdance-meets-Pocahontas outfits of his children. While the minor characters - especially Big Mama and her endlessly pregnant daughter-in-law, Mae - are shrieking caricatures, the three central relationships are brilliantly portrayed.
Simone Kirby's childless Maggie, "the cat", is a compelling blend of defiance and vulnerability as she tries to rekindle her husband Brick's desire. Brick's whisky-sodden avoidance of her is probed in the second act, where he and his father, Big Daddy, attempt to talk openly. As Brick complains of the "mendacity" that surrounds him, they circle around the truth about Brick's feelings for his dead best friend.
Sensitively played by Rory Nolan as the self-deceiving drunk, with Andrew Bennett making his overbearing father seem sympathetic, it is a riveting scene that stays close to the original. The production is most successful here, leaving contemporary parallels to be drawn by the audience, as we look at the set design's bright blue sky and know that there is a cloud lurking somewhere.
