Maggie the Cat is one of those prized roles for which actresses would scratch each others' eyes out. She is an amalgam of Tennessee Williams characters' best womanly virtues including Blanche DuBois' brimming sexuality beneath refined southern manners and Amanda Wingfield's tenacity. Her portrayal must be florid without being over-the-top as she sets the tone for this familial battle over the most fertile land this side of the River Nile. With the right direction and strong control, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is an absolute pleasure to witness. If there were any company in town to whom I would entrust this material, it would be Matthew Wiener and his stable of talented performers and designers. Once again, Actors Theatre has not disappointed; this group continues to dazzle with new and classic material. The mid 1950's Mississippi delta plantation bedroom Mr. Wiener and his designers conjure is stiflingly sultry, with an excellent combination of Natalie Messersmith, Jason Kuykendall and Benjamin Stewart filling the space and propelling the action.

Williams won a second Pulitzer with this examination of familial greed. Maggie is married to Brick, a former football hero turned sports announcer. Brick is in a downward slide into a bottle after losing his closest friend, Skipper, to drugs and alcohol. The closeness and appropriateness of Brick and Skipper's relationship is the battleground that drives Maggie into fits to find a way to keep the slowly degrading Brick the number one son in the eyes of his wealthy Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, and Big Mama. While she struggles to bring Brick back into a nuptial bed to give Big Daddy the heir he wants from them, she fights against Brick's older brother Gooper, his grasping wife Mae and their five progeny as they try to gain control of the plantation.

Mr. Wiener is able to pace this show speedily without sacrificing the languid feel of a delta evening. He turns Jeff Thomson's minimally-though-choicely furnished bed/sitting room into a wrestling ring for a tag team free-for-all. Even though he has asked all of his actors to raise their characters a step above strict realism, they do so in the air of southern grandiosity, and coupled with Williams' charged dialogue, the proceedings are wickedly enjoyable.

The relationship that Ms. Messersmith and Mr. Kuykendall spin is utterly realistic. Ms. Messersmith is a cat with her tail on fire. She rushes from place to place, desperately trying to save her place in a rapidly shifting social structure. She is a treat to watch as she quickly passes through seduction to baiting to begging in the space of a few minutes. Balancing Ms. Messersmith's hyper kinetic offering, Mr. Kuykendall is as slow as molasses, barely giving notice to the evening's machinations while desperately searching for liquid calm from his whiskey. His Brick is a broken man in search of his finish, and his slowly severing connections with his wife and father are well executed. Mr. Stewart's Big Daddy is a roaring feast for the senses. Rather than casting big of frame, Mr. Wiener has instead chosen big of spirit, and lets Mr. Stewart swell to a dynamo of coarse life affirming bravado. All three manage to be larger than life while remaining easily sympathetic, a tribute to director and actors.

Pamela Fields' Big Mama is nearly as large in spirit, and well performed. Gene Ganssle's Gooper is wisely underplayed and a bit pulled back from the rest, which explains his lowered status in the family despite being the eldest. Debra K. Stevens' profoundly pregnant Mae is a little too one-note, although it's hard to avoid when only set up to be pitted against the superior Maggie in a catfight. Gerald Burgess and Mike Lawler are solid as the Doctor and the Reverend respectively.

Mr. Thomson has eschewed walls in his set, choosing instead to define his space via carefully selected furniture, a large lace drapery, and a round floor of various oriental rugs. The effect adds to the paranoia of the piece. Paul A. Black's lighting is a good mix of colors, though it doesn't allow for the shift from evening to night that would help set the timing of the piece. Shana Targosz' costumes are all expertly chosen, and David Temby's sound design is without a hitch.

Mr. Wiener and Dramaturg Lue Douthit have given us a chance to see the unexpurgated text, where the elements of homosexuality, mendacity, and coarseness remain in full. It's great to see what so stunned audiences by their outward mentioning in 1955. The themes may not be as shocking now, but the strength of this script rests not in shock, rather in the timelessness of its characters.