THE ROLE PLAYERS ENSEMBLE OF DANVILLE brings exceptional talent to the stage this month with its season opener, Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” on stage through Sept. 20 at the historic Village Theatre.

Megan Trout masters the logistically and emotionally demanding role of Maggie, an attractive and devoted wife determined to save her crumbling marriage. Trout performs with a natural ease, fully embodying the character of the savvy young woman whose husband has lost his enthusiasm for life, and more specifically for their marriage.
Opposite Trout, Josh Schell performs admirably in the role of Maggie’s despondent husband Brick. With hardly any spoken lines in the first act, Schell aptly conveys the husband’s perspective in his physical expression alone, as Maggie continues to try to appeal to him from every angle she can conceive.

Jessica Lea Risco blithely captures the strong personality of Brick’s sister-in-law Mae, staying with Brick and Maggie at the plantation home of her father-in-law (Randy Anger as Big Daddy) along with her husband Gooper (Robert Sholty) and their unruly young children (Abby Hasselbrink and Wyatt Donaldson as Dixie and Sonny) on the occasion of Big Daddy’s 65th birthday. Entrenched in her role as wife and mother, Mae scarcely disguises her disdain for childless Maggie, while her own little vixens disrupt and annoy everyone in the household. Risco fills out her role in every respect, making it easy to feel the emotional responses she elicits from the rest of the family.

Anger is an even more powerful presence as Big Daddy, exuding patriarchal arrogance as he puts his children — and even his wife (Beth Chastain as Big Mamma) — in their place in his attempts to get at the root of his son’s problem. Brick is arrogant too, stubbornly challenging his father, but Big Daddy’s determination eventually gets him his desired result, one that proves to be bigger than even he could have guessed.

Playwright Williams may clue us in from the start that things are amiss in the family, beginning with Brick’s reluctance to join the party, or even to get out of his plaid pajamas, but the heart of the conflict is revealed only teasingly, with confusion and even misdirection, before it is finally laid bare.

Director George Maguire succeeds brilliantly in bringing the pieces together, leading to the heart of the conflict at a steady pace while at the same time gradually revealing each character’s true motivations.

The Role Players’ talented production crew makes it easy to fall into the unfolding story without distraction. Costumes (Lisa Danz) are appropriate and well fitted. Lighting and sound (David Lam and Rob Evans, respectively) illuminate the scenes with the right balance of smoothness and clarity. Fight choreographer Durand Garcia lends a professional air to a few critical scenes. The set, designed together by Paul Eric Collins, director Maguire and Darcia Tipton, is smart and evocative of Big Daddy’s Mississippi plantation home, suggested by a single bedroom setting.

The Role Players’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is one of a select few in which the overall production becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Maguire’s sensitive direction of this group of exceptional actors captures the essence of Tennessee Williams’ emotionally charged tale, and a crack production crew helps carry it all off without a hitch.

This one’s a winner!

If You Go
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” continues at the Village Theatre, 233 Front St., Danville through Sept. 20. Tickets are $20 to $28 and are available by calling 925-314-3400 or online at roleplayersensemble.com.

Elizabeth Warnimont is a freelance writer specializing in the performing arts. She is also a substitute teacher for the Benicia Unified School District.