Theater: “Gatz” at the Public Theatre
The first draft of “The Great Gatsby,” often considered the Great American Novel, was actually completed in France. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s editor Maxwell Perkins, unhappy with the draft, sent it back to the author for revisions, and when it was finally published in 1922, sold only 20,000 copies.
Only when the Council on Books in Wartime distributed free copies to GIs during WW II did “Gatsby” finally catch on with the American public, and the novel eventually became a core part of high school curricula.
Since then, the story of Jay Gatsby has been told in various film and stage formats, but none, I am sure, as unique as “Gatz,” a marvelous reading/reenactment of the novel, now being performed by the Elevator Repair Service company at the Public Theatre.
The premise of “Gatz:” an office worker (Scott Shepherd), while waiting for his computer to be repaired one morning, pulls a worn copy of Gatsby out of a drawer and begins reading it aloud. His coworkers gradually join in, and the people and office space transform into the characters and settings of the novel.
Shepherd assumes the role of Nick Carraway, a young bond salesman who, as in the novel, commutes to work in New York from his modest Long Island rental, not far from where his cousin Daisy (Tory Vasquez) lives. Again mirroring the book, Nick’s home is in the fictional town of West Egg, which is a stand-in for Great Neck; Daisy lives in more old-money East Egg (aka Port Washington) across the bay. She is married (unhappily) to Tom Buchanan (Pete Simpson), uber-wealthy but a serial philanderer.
Nick soon learns that his next-door neighbor is Jay Gatsby (Jim Fletcher), a reclusive millionaire who owns a fabulously appointed mansion and gives sumptuous parties that last into the wee hours.
No one quite knows what Gatsby does or where he comes from; he says he’s an “Oxford man” and that he’s traveled the capitals of Europe. Reaching out to Nick for friendship, he has an ulterior motive as well: seems Gatsby and Daisy were romantically involved before her marriage and he wants a reintroduction—through Nick. The stage is set for a love triangle.
You may think “Gatz” sounds like an audio book, but actually it’s more like a fabulous old-time radio show. As the actions are described, the actors perform them on stage and the result is lively, particularly in the scenes dramatizing the madcap, alcohol-fueled parties of the 1920s.
Kudos goes to the entire ensemble of 13 actors, with top honors going to Scott Shepherds, who as Nick Carroway (and the play’s narrator) has the formidable task of reading a good part of the novel for—wait for it—7 hours, four times a week. (The quoted material is delivered by the other characters.)
Besides Vasquez who is lovely as Daisy, I also liked Jim Fletcher who is perfect as the lonely, introverted Gatsby, and Ross Fletcher who in a very tender-hearted scene plays Henry C. Gatz, Gatsby’s aging father. (Fun fact: Jim and Ross are father and son IRL, and the latter, a cardiologist, is the chief of staff emeritus at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C.)
John Collins, the “Gatz” director, says the play will likely not be performed again in New York. So don’t let the length of the show frighten you (note: you do get a 90-minute dinner break in-between; I recommend Indochine across the street.) Call or visit the Public website for tickets because the run ends on December 1, which is right after Thanksgiving. Which means if you do go and you enjoy it, you’ll have my eloquent rave on FB friendship to give thanks for.
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