Maggie the Cat

MAGGIE THE CAT is based on Tennessee Williams' Southern classic CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, which premiered in the mid-1950s and was made into an iconic film in 1958 starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. The American choreographer Trajal Harrell quotes and deconstructs themes and motifs from the play, such as patriarchy, a segregated society and oppressed queerness, and transforms them into a colourful, fashion-oriented performance that is characteristic of his work. There is rapping and dancing in the patriarch's house, Harrell himself plays ‘Big Mama’ and the catwalk is conquered to music by Bruce Springsteen, Mulatu Astatke and Julio Iglesias.
 
The work MAGGIE THE CAT was created in Manchester in 2019 and is part of the PORCA MISERIA trilogy, in which Trajal Harrell explores powerful women from literature and reality. The titular Maggie, ‘the cat’, becomes the ideal character to raise questions about power, gender, rejection and belonging. Influences on Harrell's work range from ancient Greek theatre to the voguing of Harlem's subculture and merge into a choreography that is as challenging as it is entertaining, tragic and joyful. 

Even as a director and choreographer who no longer works permanently at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, Trajal Harrell will remain associated with this theatre in the 2024/25 season and will present his internationally acclaimed production MAGGIE THE CAT in October.