Saturday, February 23, 2008
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
New York Times: "While the current production of Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” has garnered attention for its all-black cast, it is the saltiness of Big Daddy, played with unrestrained ribaldry by James Earl Jones, and particularly his liberal use of a certain four-letter word, that has raised the eyebrows of some theatergoers."
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6 comments:
I think this article raises a really interesting issue surrounding the type of language we can use onstage without making a scandal. At first I thought that maybe the exchange of profanities was a way of updating the script, of making the lines more relevant to twenty-first-century culture. But it puts a whole new spin on the issue when you learn that Williams intended for the language to be strong all along. I think profanity is difficult because it's hard to find a place between "shocking" and "silly". Personally, I think that a playwright knows the script and characters well enough to make the right decision, to use the language needed by the play.
I've actually heard about this from an old teacher of mine that sees broadway shows all the time. He said it was the best performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof he had ever seen and that now that he has seen this one he doesn't think the version he's used to seeing will ever be as good. It's interesting to realize that this was in the original rendition of the script and that it was meant to be that way. Censorship, though it seems to still be a huge issue, has gotten loose enough to allow this to surface.
I'm surprised that people are still bringing about the issue of using coarse language in theatre. I can see how this is a slightly different situation, because it has changed from the original production. Of course, it has to be used correctly, which I would think it was in this situation. It's certainly all been seen on Broadway before though, so the big uproar over this is definitely a surprise.
In some respects, it seems this production has ultimately solidified the series of changes Williams had been tweaking with for so many years, almost as if the tiny revisions had built up to this end. I can't imagine them taking it any further. I also believe the context in which they present the words are appropriate, yet again I didn't live during the 50's. I believe naomi's teacher in saying this could be one of the best productions of "cat on a hot tin roof" so far.
This is silly. Instead of talking about the interesting implications of a black cast of Cat on A Hot Tin Roof or the contents of the play itself, they chose to focus on the language. As someone who is pretty familiar with the play, I would think that the inclusion of the swearing would make it more authentic, not less. Audiences need to get over themselves.
I've always found that the most interesting part of plays are the character dynamics. Because Williams had to tone it down and change the language, much of the intended meaning of the play was lost. When you pick up script all you have is the text and what you make of the text. Harsh language is an important direction for character and losing that can be harmful.
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