Starring Richard Blackwood, Derek Griffiths, Nina Sosanya, Sanaa Lathan, Adrian Lester, Phylicia Rashad and James Earl Jones.

It's summer, and very hot, in the house of Big Daddy - the Mississippi delta's richest cotton planter. Maggie fights to save her marriage to his son. Imprisoned by the past the family is torn apart by revelations of lust, greed and envy in this Pulitzer Prize winning production.

Age recommendation 12+

James Earl Jones

Big Daddy

James Earl Jones is particularly known for his resonant basso voice and commanding presence. His early successes were in the New York theater, first in Shakespeare's Othello and The Emperor Jones (both 1964), and, more famously, The Great White Hope, for which he won the 1969 Tony award. He started in the movies in the mid-1960s, and won an Oscar for repeating his role as prizefighter Jack Jefferson in the 1970 film version of The Great White Hope. These days he's probably best known as the voice of Darth Vader in the George Lucas's Star Wars film series. His other movie roles include a reclusive Salinger-like author in Field of Dreams (1989, with Kevin Costner), an avuncular CIA chief in the spy flicks The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger (1990, '92 and '94, all based on novels by Tom Clancy) and the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King (1994). His Broadway appearances include Paul Robeson (1978) and two more Tony-winning performances, in Fences (1987) and On Golden Pond (2005). Jones is also known for his TV voiceovers, particularly his sonorous "This... is CNN" for the Cable News Network.

According to National Public Radio, as a boy Jones "had such a severe stutter that, for eight years, he refused to talk and was functionally mute." He says his high school English teacher helped him by making him read poetry aloud... Jones played Malcolm X in the 1977 film The Greatest... He had a small role in the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film Dr. Strangelove... He played author Alex Haley in the 1979 TV miniseries Roots: The Next Generations... The on-screen role of Darth Vader was played by David Prowse.

Phylicia Rashad

Big Mama

A native of Houston, Texas, Ms. Rashad graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from Howard University.

Ms. Rashad recently made her directorial debut at the helm of The Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. Broadway credits include August Osage County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Gem of the Ocean, Raisin in the Sun,(2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play/Drama Desk Award), Blue, Jelly’s Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, The Wiz and Ain’t Supposed To Die A Natural Death.

Known to television audiences for her role as 'Claire Huxtable' on The Cosby Show and as 'Ruth Lucas' on the CBS sitcom, Cosby, she received the NAACP Image Award for “Best Actress in a Comedy Series” for both of these roles. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards and has received two People’s Choice Awards.

Feature Film credits include: Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, directed by Tim Reid, Free of Eden (opposite Sydney Poitier),Loving Jezebel, directed by Kwyn Bader and The Visit, directed by Jordan Walker Pearlman.

Television film credits include: A Raisin in the Sun, (2008 Emmy nomination, 2009 NAACP Image Award) The Old Settler (AFI nomination) directed by Debbie Allen, David’s Mother, False Witness, Jailbirds, Polly and Polly Comin’ Home. Other television appearances include Touched by an Angel, Blossom, and A Different World.

Adrian Lester

Brick

Film credits include: Doomsday, (Hadrian Productions Limited); Case No. 39, (Paramount); Starting Out In The Evening, (Indigent); Spiderman 3, (Columbia Pictures); Scenes Of A Sexual Nature, (Natural Films Ltd); As You Like It, Day After Tomorrow, (Forest Films, 20th Century Fox); Final Curtain, (Film Consortium); Dust, (History Dream Ltd); Born Romantic, (Born Romantic Ltd); Maybe Baby (Inconceivable Films), Love’s Labours Lost, (Shakespeare Film Co); Best, (Sky Pictures), Primary Colours, (Universal Pictures); Up On The Roof, (Granada Films); Les Soeurs Soleil, (Alter Films); The Affair, (Warner Sisters).

Television credits include: Merlin, Ballet Shoes, Being Human, Storm Damage, Silent Witness, Teaching Matthew (BBC); Sleep With Me, Afterlife, (Clerkenwell Films); Bonekickers, (Mammoth Screen); Hustle (3 series), (Kudos); Beyond (SFX); Ghost Sxquad Girlfriends, (Company Pictures Paramount); Jason & The Argonauts, (Hallmark); Ball And Chain, (Channel 4).

Theatre credits include: Henry V, Sweeney Todd, (Royal National Theatre); Hamlet, (Theatre des Bouffes du Nord/World Tour); Company, (Donmar, Albery); As You Like It, (Cheek By Jowl Productions); Six Degrees of Seperation, (Royal Court, Comedy Theatre); As You Like It, (Tour, Lyric); Kiss Of The Spiderwoman, (Belgrade Coventry); Fences, (Liverpool /house/WE); The Winter’s Tale, (Royal Exchange); Hanging The President, (Traverse Theatre Studio); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, (NT Touring Workshop).

Sanaa Lathan

Maggie 'The Cat'

Tony-Award nominated actress, Sanaa Lathan delivers a striking presence and undeniable energy to each project she takes on and continues to build on an already impressive career. Lathan was recently seen in director Tyler Perry’s feature, “The Family that Preys,” starring alongside Tyler Perry, Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard. Also later this year, she can be seen portraying ‘Khadi’ in the drama, “Wonderful World,” opposite Matthew Broderick. Recently, Lathan reprised her role as ‘Beneatha Younger’ in highly rated and critically acclaimed ABC Network production of “A Raisin in the Sun” alongside Sean Puffy Combs. She is also lending her voice to the Fox animated show “The Clevelands” which will premiere in the fall of 2009.

Lathan’s most recent credits include Focus Features’ film “Something New,” in which she received a NAACP nomination for Best Actress for her role; as well as a role on the FX Network series “Nip/Tuck.” Lathan played the new owner of McNamara/Troy and love interest of ‘Dr. Troy.’ She also received a NAACP nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role.