Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Read reviews

The Guardian

• Wednesday 2 DecemberMichael Billlington

"A high water-mark for the London stage"

"Emotional firepower and an awareness of the conflict between lies and truth are abundantly present in this exhilarating evening"

"Debbie Allen's fine production brings out Tennessee William's savage comedy as well as his emotional pain"

"Sanaa Lathan's incredibly sultry Maggie, is both a mountain of sexual frustration and an unstoppable talker"

"Phylicia Rashad's excellent Big Mamma"

The Independent

• Wednesday 2 DecemberPaul Taylor

"All black-cast turns the tables with powerful performance"

"James Earl Jones in stunning form"

"What is remarkable about Allen's compelling, sensitive and acerbically comic production is how swiftly you become absorbed by the universal elements in the story"

"Sanaa Lathan's beautifully and fractiously frustrated Maggie"

The Daily Telegraph

• Wednesday 2 DecemberCharles Spencer

"Some tremendous performances from the cast in this harrowing but often blackly comic drama of dysfunctional family life"

"The production hits home hard"

"Earl Jones superbly captures the rage of a man confronting his own mortality"

"Sanaa Lathan gives a wonderfully sensual, deeply felt performance"

"Outstanding supporting performances from Peter de Jersey and Nina Sosanya"

The Times

• Thursday 3 DecemberBenedict Nightingale

"Sanaa Lathan and Adrian Lester excel"

"Maggie the 'cat' of the title is, a woman whose sensuality yet sensitivity, frustration, despair and residual toughness is beautifully evoked by Sanaa Lathan"

Daily Express

• Wednesday 2 DecemberPaul Callan

"CAT" is a powerful, at times fierce, indictment of family dysfunction, with its raging jealousies, bitterness and naked greed"

"This production shines with some great performances - particularly the great James Earl Jones. His earth-shaking basso profundo voice is probably how God will sound on Judgement day. His performance is beautifully managed"

"Adrian Lester is superb. He maintains a stillness about his performance, revealing a man battered by drink to disillusionment"

Evening Standard

• Wednesday 2 DecemberHenry Hitchings

"A fine cast"

"Jones brings massive gravity to his role as the bruising patriarch"

"Packs a big emotional punch, and the face-off between Brick and Big Daddy in the second act is a triumph"

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has real claws"

Metro

• Thursday 3 DecemberClaire Allfree

"The Big Daddy of revivals"

"Allen brings out the play's rumbustious cruelty but also its comedy"

"Nina Sosayna glitters as the bitchy Mae"

"A sexually charged Sanna Lathan captures Maggie's heartache"

"Great play, terrific cast"

Mail On Sunday

• Sunday 6 DecemberGeorgina Brown

"Tennessee is the Cat's whiskers"

"Tennessee William's Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is a cauldron of secrets, self-deception and lies. Debbie Allen's all-black, Anglo American revival gets off to a sizzling start with some jazzy saxophone playing"

"This marvellous production"

"Sanaa Lathan is superb"

"The temperature rises even higher with the appearance of James Earl Jones's gigantic patriarch Big Daddy, who snarls and roars like a starving lion, swiping with savage cruelty at his loyal wife, scorchingly well-played by Phylicia Rashad"

"A cat with heart, soul and real fangs"

Financial Times

• Monday 7 DecemberSarah Hemming

"Adrian Lester is wonderful in the agonising encounter with his father"

"Great work from Nina Sosanya and Peter de Jersey as the grasping in laws and from Derek Grifffiths as the priest"

Sunday Express

• Sunday 6 DecemberMark Shenton

"Debbie Allen's piercing new production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof offers a gripping, wrenching account of this great play"

"A towering, glowering James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad reprise their magnificent NewYork turns"