Breaking through the Brick wall

MAYBE it’s time to finally have an openly gay actor play Brick [in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”]. Then we wouldn’t have to read yet another statement by a straight actor of how oppressive it is to be called a homosexual when the character has an openly affectionate relationship with another straight man. Maybe Brick wanted to have an affectionate and physical relationship with another man, but the period he lived in would not allow for such a union without paying a terrible price.

So he’s married. Now his wife and kids can pay the price too, thanks to our oppressive culture.

Tennessee Williams knew all about alcohol and closeted gay men’s lives.

Maybe if he had written “Cat” today, it would have been about the ramifications of Brick’s coming out of the closet instead of the tortured ambiguity of the 1950s.

Barry Simon

Studio City