"There is nothing else to live with but mendacity," declares Big Daddy in Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at Newburyport's Firehouse Center for the Arts. Directed by Marc Clopton, this is a story about the truth in lies that family members tell each other to hide their own frustrations, mistakes and deepest passions.

Quintessential Williams, the play is set on a sultry Southern night, filled with sexual tension and a river of ice and whiskey.

It's Big Daddy's birthday, but he's dying. Nobody wants to tell him or his wife Big Mama the truth, at least not until Big Daddy's will is written and his older son Grooper and his wife Mae get control of the family holdings. Set in the bedroom of a huge plantation house outside of Memphis, circa 1955, the story opens with Maggie, wife of the youngest son, Brick, changing out of a soiled dress. Brick emerges from the bathroom on crutches, his leg in a cast, to freshen up yet another whiskey highball. He also mixes another argument with Maggie. She reports that his brother Grooper and Mae are scheming to get control of the plantation while he drinks himself into oblivion to relieve his angst over the death of his lifelong friend Skipper. He's also been refusing to sleep in the same bed as Maggie.

Big Mama enters the room, elated to share the news that Big Daddy's tests have found no cancer. She then imposes on Brick to celebrate Big Daddy's birthday. Through a cloud of mendacity and the din of Grooper and Mae's boisterous kids emerges Big Daddy. A rich and powerful man who's lived the American Dream, confronting death has focused Big Daddy's mind; he's learned that "Life is important. There's nothing else to hold onto." Dispatching friends, family and doting wife to the outdoors, he turns to Brick. The conversation takes a torturous path through the lives of father and son. Each reveals to the other his most private thoughts on women, friends and the lies he's perpetuated and confronted.

Clopton has matched the physical appearances of the actors and characters well, but there are times when some characters lack that cachet and cadence that makes Williams' lines sound of the poetry that puts humidity and sweat into a slow Southern night. Jesiah Hammond and Carolyne Gallo as Brick and Maggie are a beautiful couple. Gallo's opening soliloquy reflects Maggie's grit and wit, but she speaks a bit too fast and misses the honey-sweet drawl of a Southern belle. Maggie is the cat on a hot tin roof; Gallo plays her skittishly but not slyly, failing to punctuate her digs with a coy "you know that's true" look. Hammond recites as if he's in a Greek Chorus, sometimes chanting his lines instead of offering the dispassionate delivery of a man who's given up on life. When he was conversing with the moon, I wasn't sure it was really there.

Anna Smulowitz as Big Mama provides the humor and energy to help move the story to its climax, but lacks the assertiveness to command obedience. Smulowitz portrays well a naive woman who attempts to control chaos, but without that aura of assurance that mature Southern women exude.

Chris Welch as Big Daddy proves to be the glue that holds the beginning to the end. His performance is brash, his profanity is real, and his range of emotion is convincing. His acting left me feeling like I'd just watched a chairman of the board get to the bottom of a management coverup.

David Holden as the goofy Grooper was entertaining and contrasted well with Mae, played by Adair Rowland. Their portrayal of two people who make a pathetic attempt to out-cat Maggie is realistic and funny. The look on their faces when the big lie is discovered is a Betty Boop moment.

Bernie Tato as Doctor Baugh and Alan Huisman as Reverend Tooker, witnesses to the chaos, go from bemused onlookers to willing participants in the plot to deceive Big Daddy and Big Mama. Their shock at the plot's unraveling is delightful. Holly Little's portrayal of the maid in charge of policing the noisy and always irritating brood of children (played well by Donald Shaw, Claire Renales, Danielle Simard and Brynn Beaudoin) is convincingly nervous and harried.

The set has substance. A mixture of real doorframes, sheets and furniture, it's simple and elegant. Lighting designed by James Atkins sets the evening scene. Costumes, designed and produced by Debbie Hobson, approach the era, but seeing men in jackets and children in sweaters cooled off the sultry setting of the play.

Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, May 5-21, launches the summer subscription series. Next up are "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" and "The Fantasticks."

Performances of "Cat" are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. Tickets for the single show are $20 for adults, $18 for students and seniors, and $17 for members. Discounts are available for the series.

For more information or to make a reservation, contact the Firehouse box office at 978-462-7336 or at www.firehousecenter.com.