It’s Big Daddy’s world.

We just live in it.

Big Daddy is a term of endearment given the epic character in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” through May 23, Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a landmark of the American stage being presented in one of America’s landmark theaters in a landmark production that is as thought-provoking as it is provocative.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. The play’s themes of family troubles in the Deep South are as relevant now as then.

The family has gathered one evening in the Mississippi Delta cotton plantation mansion to celebrate the 65th birthday of Big Daddy (a marvelous Wayne Duvall, hitting all the right notes of gruffness, authority and complexity).

The Scenic Design by Jack Magaw depicts the expansive second floor bedroom of Brick, Big Daddy’s son, and Brick’s wife Margaret.

The dispersal of Big Daddy’s estate is at the crux of the drama. Big Daddy had a visit to the doctor. The test results are revealed in the play’s third act.

Complicating matters is the favoritism of Big Daddy for Brick, a former football hero hobbling around the bedroom on a crutch after attempting to recapture glory in a drunken late-night escapade on an empty stadium field.

Brick might have the least amount of dialogue in the drama tinged with comedy and is often silent to the point of sullen. Lucas Dixon makes Brick so riveting that you wonder what he’s thinking. His interior monologue is a most intriguing depiction.

Another plot fulcrum is that Brick and Margaret “Maggie the Cat” are childless as Maggie (an emotionally-charged Elizabeth A. Davis) constantly reminds him. When she dances atop their bed, we know who the alpha person is in this couple.

Brick’s brother Gooper (a convincingly-insistent Tony Roach) and his wife Mae (a lovely over-the-top Bree Elrod) have children, five “no-neck monsters” as they are described, and Mae is pregnant. Big Daddy is disdainful of Gooper and his brood.

Hovering over the proceedings, machinations and recriminations is Big Mama (Kate Levy providing a very sympathetic portrayal) as the much maligned and emotionally-abused Minimizer-In-Chief.

Doctor Baugh (Gene Gilette) delivers the news with unwavering resolve.

Reverend Tooker (David Sitler) beats a hasty retreat after a plethora of platitudes.

Dixie (Caterina Marchese in the April 25 performance, alternating with twin sister, Francesca Marchese) runs circles around the others as one of Gooper and Mae’s misbehaving children.

Director Eric Rosen lets the play unfold and the characters breathe as fireworks explode, lightning flashes and outside forces of time, nature and certitude take over in due course.

Lighting Design is by Kat C. Zhou. Sound Design is by Jane Shaw.

Costume Design is by Annie J. Le. Hair. Wig & Makeup Design is by J. Jared Janas.

The play’s overarching theme, as described by Big Daddy, is the ”obnoxious odor of mendacity,” referring to “lies and liars.”

Big Daddy forms an alliance with Brick because, as befits his name, Brick survive the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in his own minimalist way and has the potential to be strong and solid. Gooper, as his name might symbolize, is small in personality and preoccupied with the fine print of life.

Tennessee Williams’ parable rises to the Shakespearean in its descriptive specificity, character assassination (one character berating, often hilariously, another) and the rhythm, rhyme and beats of dialogue.

In this, the Bucks County Playhouse’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a master class in stagecraft, entertainment and believability. There’s no mendacity on this stage.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is endlessly fascinating, especially in the Bucks County Playhouse production that has the ring of truth.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” 7:30 p.m. April 23, 24, 28, 29, May 1, 5, 8, 12, 19. 22; 1:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. April 25, 30, May 2, 7, 9, 14, 20, 21, 23; 1:30 p.m. April 26, 29, May 3, 6, 10, 13, 17; 7 p.m. May 15; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. May 16, Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope. 215-862-2121, https://bcptheater.org/