Note: page numbers are from the Dramatists Play Service Inc. version of the play.
The role of
Skipper in any given production of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is an interesting one. Though not actually present as an actor on
the list of characters at the beginning of the play itself, the dramatic arc of
the play would not exist without him. It
is his relationship with Brick that creates the central tension between Brick
and the other members of the Pollitt family.
The production currently running on Broadway made a very interesting
choice regarding Skipper’s presence: they gave him one. They have since changed their minds, removing
his presence, but this unique choice added an interesting, new dimension. Having seen it twice, once with Skipper and
once without, I think that while the show does not lack anything without him
his presence adds to the experience in an interesting way.
The audience
is first shown Skipper in Act One when Margaret (Maggie) starts talking about
him at length: “I made my mistake when I told you the truth about that thing
with Skipper” (25). Maggie has been
hinting at some incident in the past with this dear friend of her husband Brick
and the conversation finally explodes in this scene. In this instance, the director had the actor
playing Skipper, dressed in a letter jacket evocative of his football playing
days at Old Miss, walk along the gallery outside of the bedroom looking
in. Maggie has conjured him, but he is
not welcome yet. The truth is not fully
out. Brick has also not welcomed the
specter of his dead best friend yet.
Brick still resists having the conversation, saying “I had friendship
with Skipper. You are namin’ it dirty!”
(27). The fact that his wife brought it
up makes the discussion tainted somehow.
He blames Maggie for Skipper’s death because she was the one who told
Skipper to stop loving her husband. So
the ghost warily walks the gallery, looking in on the marital strife. With this visual manifestation of Skipper,
this scene evokes what the relationship must have been like for Maggie; she was
always the proverbial third wheel.
Without his presence, the scene is much more focused on the fight
between bereaved husband and ignored wife.
The distinction is an important one.
It asks whether this scene about Brick’s relationship with Maggie or
with Skipper. Classically, this scene is
written as though it is about Brick’s relationship to Maggie. It is in this scene that the conditions of
the continuation of their marriage are revealed. This makes the purpose of the scene to reveal
more about this relationship. But
Brick’s relationship to Skipper has always figured into his relationship to
Maggie, so Skipper’s presence manifests the unspoken truth of the conversation:
Brick’s relationship to Maggie was never quite as valuable to him as his
relationship to Skipper.
Skipper’s
second and final appearance happens during Brick’s big talk with Big Daddy. Big
Daddy forces Brick to defend his drinking, in many ways forcing Brick to
confront his role in Skipper’s death. This
allows Skipper into the room. He enters
from the gallery and explores the edges of the bedroom as Brick tells the story
of their relationship. Brick insists
that the relationship was “a pure an’ true thing” (57) while dispelling the rumor
that Skipper and he were more than friends.
With his presence in the scene, Brick’s story has an air of
speciousness. With Skipper’s presence,
the scene is imbued with an added degree of tragedy; the audience can see the
look on his face when Brick denies that their relationship was anything more
than friendship and it is a look of sadness.
When Brick begins to talk about the phone call Skipper placed in which
the audience is meant to understand that Skipper confessed his love, Skipper
picks up the phone. The ghostly ring of
the phone is more fully separated from the present. Without Skipper present, it’s not totally
clear that the phone is not ringing; the tonal quality of the ring is slightly
different and the phone itself is hidden in purple shadows while the main
action is tightly confined to the glow of center stage, but Skipper’s presence
removes the phone call in a much more definitive way.
Skipper is Brick’s demon; he is the reason
Brick drinks. His physical presence in
the show adds an interesting representation of the burden Brick bears. We see the play more from Brick’s perspective
with Skipper’s presence. Without
Skipper, the other relationships Brick has are more highlighted. The production does not suffer without
Skipper. The ensemble is very strong and
very cohesive. But the dimensions that
his presence brings out make the show very different. Both are good; one is more unique.
