The Stage Design of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The play we watched on class was shown in a film form, not performed on stage. Hence, I started to wonder how that would be if I was a producer and I had a plan to put this significant play on stage.

According to the film version and the script, basically there are only two major scenes, the bedroom scene and the balcony scene, especially the former at witch at least 80 percent part of the play happen. The balcony scene, though, doesn’t occupy too much time, it still has its meaning and I think it plays an important role to the play.

Therefore, here comes the question, how can I put the two scenes on a stage and make these two have certain relation or connection at the same time? I have observed that actually the balcony is always there and it never disappears from the play, because it is always right there behind the bedroom and the audience knows that as well. Based on this point, I acknowledge that I have to add some devices which can make a perfect fusion of these two scenes. Suddenly, something crosses my mind, and I recall that there is a brilliant and huge prop on stage in a bloody play which is featured a demon barber named Sweeny Todd.

The barber shop really impresses me a lot, because it skillfully makes the barber shop and the house of his sinister fellow, Mrs. Lovett, in to one. This device truly saves time and money when changing scenes and working the play much more efficiently. The arrangement also conveys an idea, in my opinion, and that is like saying Sweeny Todd and Mrs. Lovett are the same and they should be together, so it is their doom to die together and at the same sinful place.

From this idea, though Brick and Maggie are not the same kind of person, obviously Maggie never wants to leave Brick, for love or for money, I am not sure though I prefer the latter reason, but according to this situation, Maggie is much like Mrs. Lovett, whose stay I am sure is out of love with Sweeny Todd. From this reason, the balcony and the bedroom never should be apart, if my interpretations are right, because I think the balcony refers to brick and the bedroom should be always woman’s world. So in this play, the bedroom is under Maggie’s rule, and the balcony is the only place where the refugee, Brick, can escape to.

For the bedroom setting, I just plan to have a bed and a delicate tiny wine bar next to the bed. Of course I mean to do this arrangement. Like what I have mentioned, Maggie is the boss of the bedroom and she keeps talking, complaining and wailing without stop. She leads that place, as the bed which is always the spotlight in a bedroom, and this makes a beautiful contrary between Maggie and her alcoholic husband, Brick, and between the bed and the tiny wine bar.

One man who drinks too much and gets pushed too much definitely needs a place to breathe and take a little rest, and the balcony is just the right place for Brick. Summer is an extremely hot and annoying season, and leaving people the feeling that living in a hotpot and getting boiled to explosion and to death; additionally, if at this time, there is someone who is nagging around and about you all the time, don’t you think killing yourself with alcohol is a much better idea? While even alcohol cannot earn some peace for you, maybe going to the balcony seeing some stars and taking some fresh air is another way to do.

The balcony is very different from the bedroom; bedroom is a very private place for a couple, but the balcony is open to anyone. Women like saving their faces and keep looking fabulous in front of everybody all the time, so a pretty and elegant woman like Maggie will never yell to her husband outside and embarrass herself. No wonder Brick likes staying outside instead of inside.

In a film, the setting can be as realistic as possible. A play on stage in a theater can’t be that way, however. That‘s why I consider the achievement of touching people by performing in a theater is greater than by any other performing forms. On stage, the space is limit and that’s impossible to do any special effects like using in movies, and the most difficult part is that—there is no chance to fix any mistake.

From this point, I know those performers only can rely on their skill of acting to move people and trigger the audience’s emotions along with the plot. Too many trifles is not a helper for a performance, sometimes it leads people to distraction. Without them, the audience is able to focus on the profession of actors and follow their directions to a better and deeper understanding about the play.

For the performers’ every movement and emotion that can be seen and followed up, I make a device referring to lady-Susan and having a spinning disk below. With that device the setting which combines the balcony and the bedroom together is capable of doing 360 degree rotation. That means the audience is not only can see either scenes only at a time, but also two spots at the same time. In other words, when brick escapes from the room and to the balcony, we not only see how mush pressure Brick is under and how he finds little peach there for a while, but also watch how Maggie is planning to get what she wants and hear her self-talking. The audience will not miss any physical or emotional suggestions the performers give on stage if the device can be used to the maximum of efficiency, and there is no need to worry about the problem of location or position.

To the conclusion, a simple setting on stage in a theater is always my favorite.
I always hold the idea that the simpler a setting is, the better it will do. So I think a bed, a wine bar and a simple balcony only with a railing abound can be just enough. There is no need to put many things on stage and build a realistic atmosphere. It is not necessary, because performers can exactly deliver that idea—what the audience sees is real.