Tennessee Williams: A Rare Rehearsal Script For The Original Broadway Production Of 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof',

1955,

Footnotes

Provenance:
Believed to be the copy belonging to Marguerite Littman (1930-2020), who was Assistant to the Broadway play's director Elia Kazan for 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' (credited by her married name at the time, Brown).

Marguerite Littman was a Southern socialite, regarded as the inspiration for the character of Holly Golightly in Truman Capote's 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'. She initially became involved in the rehearsal process for this play as a voice coach, assisting the principal cast with the dialect and mannerisms for the US South. Littman's career later expanded into Hollywood film productions, working as Elizabeth Taylor's personal dialect coach on 'Raintree County' (1957), the film version of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (1958), and with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward on 'Long Hot Summer' (1958).

The handwritten annotations throughout the script keenly demonstrate the creative process in action, with 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' undergoing numerous significant iterations since it was first penned by Tennessee Williams. The script contains many pencil notes, annotations, amendments and suggestions, most notably to the crucial last page in the third act. Littman observes on the opposite page: "Final ending changed. Whole idea is that Brick admires Maggie. Problem not solved, but at least you have a feeling Brick will try to make Maggie's dream come true (about baby)."

The final exchange of Brick's line "I might be impotent Maggie" and Maggie's reply "I'm not afraid" have also been crossed out, with the new line added in pencil being the same line in the published 'Broadway' version of the script. The script is therefore a rare and important insight into a crucial creative period for one of Williams' greatest plays.