Rousuck's Review: 2 Season Openers: ----Cat on a Hot Tin Roof---- and ----Sex with Strangers----

It's time for another weekly visit with our peripatetic theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom today with reviews of not one but two theater-season openers here in Baltimore.The first is the new production at Baltimore's Center Stage of Tennessee Williams' sultry American classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. This searing drama about multi-generational family ties and unsustainable deceptions unfolds over the course of a sweltering summer night, in the mansion house of a sprawling Mississippi Delta plantation. Tony and Obie Awards laureate Judith Ivey directs the strong cast, led by actors David Schramm as Big Daddy, Andrew Pastides as Brick, and Stephanie Gibson as Maggie.Cat on a Hot Tin Roof continues at Center Stage through Sunday, October 14.The second season-opener Judy reviews today is also the Baltimore premiere of Sex with Strangers, at Fells Point Corner Theatre, a 2011 work by the prolific writer/producer of House of Cards, playwright Laura Eason. One of the most-produced plays in the US for the past several years, Sex with Strangers tells the story of two artists who meet while snowed-in together at a secluded bed and breakfast. Their ensuing dance with intimacy explores the tricky new dynamics of gender politics and identities in the digital age. The play is directed by Patrick Gorirossi, with performances by Kathryn Daniels and Matthew Lindsay Payne. Sex with Strangers will be on stage at Fells Point Corner Theatre through Sunday October 7.Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.