Vintage-style promotional poster for the film 'Sweet Bird of Youth' featuring Paul Newman and Geraldine Page, with bold black text on an orange textured background and an illustration of a seated figure.

Beyond the Script: Denver Public Library’s Guide to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

/in , , /by

Thanks to the Denver Public Library, we’re delighted to provide these library resources to enhance your theatre experience of Denver Center Theatre Company’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

READ   

Book cover of 'Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh' by John Lahr featuring an illustrated portrait of Tennessee Williams holding a cigarette, with warm abstract background and National Book Award Finalist emblem.Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh by John Lahr

This excellent biography of Williams that was a best book of 2014 highlights his Southern roots and the forces shaping his development and blossoming as a dramatist. Lahr, the son of the actor Bert Lahr, was noted as one of the most perceptive American theater critics. The biography also explores how the plays like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof were adapted, through great effort, for stage and screen.

 

 

WATCH        

Cover of 'Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh' by John Lahr, featuring an illustrated portrait of Tennessee Williams holding a cigarette, with warm abstract background and National Book Award Finalist badge.Truman & Tennessee, dir. Lisa Immordino Vreeland (2020)

A fascinating dual study of Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote highlighting their friendship and identities as gay Southern writers. It includes lots of good trivia as well, including Tennessee’s views on film adaptations of his plays.

 

DOWNLOAD

Vintage-style promotional poster for the film 'Sweet Bird of Youth' featuring Paul Newman and Geraldine Page, with bold black text on an orange textured background and an illustration of a seated figure.Southern Gothic Films Collection

Like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the films in this collection are a counterpoint to the romanticized image of southern culture in works like Gone with the Wind. Selections include Sweet Bird of Youth, based on another Tennessee Williams play, and A Rose for Emily, an adaptation of an early William Faulkner story.

LISTEN

Surreal blue-skinned creature with cowboy hat and vest sitting on a log, holding a bottle, set against a black background with dark blue border; fantasy-western themed artwork.The Complete Dirty South by The Drive-By Truckers

This concept album by the Southern rock group gets you in the mood for steamy Delta hi-jinks. It explores the margins of respectability as well as the harsh truth of growing up on both sides of the track in the South.

 

 

Denver Public Library logo with abstract blue geometric design and modern text layout.

Resources provided by Denver Public Library

 

You might also like
An older man in a jacket, tie and sweater vest sitting on a wooden table with a chair behind, in a dimly lit room with dark wooden walls.A Blueprint for Happiness
A collection of well-used books of various sizes and colors arranged on a shelf, with some titles visible on the spines.A Reading Companion to the DCPA’s 2025/26 Season
UC Denver Students and the cast of The Chinese Lady pose for a photo together onstageTalkbacks: An Insider’s Look at a Play
The title treatment in blue spelling "The Happiest Man on Earth" on top of a yellow background with birds and a barb wire fence in the background.The Pulitzer Prize – Substance or Shadow?
2025/26 Theatre Company Season Announced
The title treatment in blue spelling "The Happiest Man on Earth" on top of a yellow background with birds and a barb wire fence in the background.Discussion Guide: The Happiest Man on Earth