If Tennessee Willliams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play had been a book, it would have been a sure-fire best-seller. Instead, it was inspired by his 1952 short story, Three Players of a Summer Game. Raw, turbulent, and riveting from start to finish, this American classic unfolds one sweltering night on the Pollitt family estate, where betrayals and unburied truths leave no one unscathed. This Denver Center Theatre Company production is playing October 3 through November 2, 2025 in the Kilstrom Theatre.

1. What does it mean to be “a cat on a hot tin roof”?

Maggie uses this metaphor to describe her emotional state. Who else in the play might be a “cat on a hot tin roof,” and what keeps them there?

2. How does the setting — a single bedroom in a Southern plantation — shape the drama?

Consider how confinement, heat, and family legacy intensify the characters’ conflicts.

3. Brick’s silence is central to the play. What is he avoiding?

What does his refusal to speak openly reveal about grief, guilt, and masculinity?

4. Big Daddy and Brick share a moment of brutal honesty.

What truths are exchanged between them, and why are they so difficult to face?

5. Mendacity (lying) is a recurring theme.

What lies are told in the play? Are they protective, destructive, or both?

6. How does the play explore desire and repression?

Think about Maggie’s longing, Brick’s detachment, and the tension between them.

7. What role does inheritance play in the family’s behavior?

How do Mae and Gooper use their children to gain favor? What does the estate symbolize?

8. How does Maggie’s final claim — about being pregnant — shift the power dynamic? What does it say about survival?

9. How does the play portray gender roles and expectations?

Consider how women are valued for fertility and men for strength or success.

10. What emotions did the production evoke for you?

Did you feel sympathy, discomfort, anger, or hope? How did the staging and performances influence your response?

Questions generated by Microsoft Co-Pilot