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Royal Exchange, ManchesterModern-day version casts Tennessee Williams’s steamy melodrama in a new light, with a focus on the corruptibility of wealthRoy Alexander Weise does not overtly change the setting of Tennessee Williams’s feverish classic, but he does blur the edges. The director has said this Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is set now, but he maintains its humid deep south atmosphere as the fans turn languidly over Milla Clarke’s spare white set and the anxious characters come and go in their Sunday best.Much of it feels like the 1950s of the original, except off-stage someone is playing Aretha Franklin and, on-stage, Big Daddy (a dapper Patrick Robinson) interrupts his vaping to describe a sexual fantasy set to a hip-hop rhythm. The family might carry themselves with the timeless authority of a wealthy elite but they also know their 50 Cent and Rihanna.At the Royal Exchange, Manchester, until 29 April Continue reading...