World Premiere for New Great Gatsby Adaptation
Prolific and critically successful at adapting iconic novels to the stage, Adelaide’s Independent Theatre now finds new dimensions in F Scott Fitzgerald’s jazz age classic, The Great Gatsby. Lesley Reed reports.
Some consider F Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel The Great Gatsby to be ‘great’ in its own right, possibly even the best American novel of the 20th century.
When New York stockbroker Nick Carraway rents a Long Island cottage next door to enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby he learns Gatsby is the subject of constant gossip as to his past, as well as speculation about how he made his money. After an unlikely friendship develops between the two, Nick discovers that Gatsby is obsessed with Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan, whom Gatsby loved and lost during the Great War.
Suffice to say, the story conjures up images of success and excess, with its ‘lifestyle of the rich and famous’ portrayal of romance, glamour, money, fabulous cars, jazz and night clubs…all set in a time of Prohibition. As such, it has been fodder for multiple movies. Beginning with a silent film in 1926, its 1949 incarnation starred Alan Ladd, while Robert Redford and Mia Farrow were the stars of a 1974 version. Since then, a telemovie has appeared and Baz Lurhmann’s big budget recent movie starred Leonardo Di Caprio.
All movie versions have omitted much of the novel, especially the detail of the lengthy ‘confessional’ scenes between Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway.
Now, Rob Croser, Artistic Director for Adelaide’s Independent Theatre, has seen an opportunity to give audiences a much more ‘true to the novel’ Gatsby story, using theatre as the medium. Croser is very successful at adapting novels to stage, as demonstrated by his critically acclaimed productions of Mapp and Lucia, Daniel Deronda, Huckleberry Finn, Pride and Prejudice, East of Eden and The Magnificent Ambersons.
Croser will premiere his new Independent Theatre version of The Great Gatsby at The Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, on September 3. It will star Will Cox (winner of a Best Actor Curtain Call Award for his performance in Independent Theatre’s Huckleberry Finn) as Nick Carraway, Lindsay Prodea as Jay Gatsby and Madeleine Herd as Daisy Buchanan.
Rob Croser’s approach to producing The Great Gatsby is quite revolutionary, as it picks up on the key aspects of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original novel that the film versions have no doubt deliberately ignored for box office reasons.
“The novel contains no real ‘love dialogue’ for Gatsby and Daisy and they are never seen alone together,” said Croser. “The various film versions have approached the problem by inventing love scenes from other Fitzgerald ‘rich girl/poor boy’ short stories. A recent re-reading of the novel convinced me that the story was actually Nick Carraway’s and of Nick’s fascination with the Gatsby/Daisy phenomenon.”
Croser subsequently developed his stage version of the iconic story by focusing on Nick Carraway as a constant presence and the voice of the narrative.
‘Retaining Fitzgerald’s exquisitely poetic, descriptive prose, our adaptation thus becomes a memory play and a much more richly complex, emotionally satisfying examination of the relationships at the heart of this multi-faceted gem of a novel,” said Croser.
The art-deco set and colourful Roaring Twenties costumes will give stunning period authenticity to the play, as will the popular 1920’s dances and songs performed by Ben Francis, who audiences will remember from his performance last year in Independent Theatre’s Peter and Alice.
Audiences are accustomed to seeing The Great Gatsby portrayed in film, so the intriguing prospect of seeing F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic jazz age story produced not only on stage and true to the novel, but also from a very different perspective than in the movies, should have people flocking along to see Independent Theatre’s production.
“You’re worth the whole damn bunch,” said Nick Carraway in his last words to Gatsby. I’ve a sneaking suspicion this production might be worth a whole bunch of same-name movies, too.
Where: The Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.
When: 7.45 pm September 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 6.30 pm September 8; 11 am September 9; 12 midday September 12.
Bookings: BASS 131 246 or www.bass.net.au
Tickets: Adults $38.30, Concession $33.30, Students $21.30
Booking fees apply.
Rehearsal images (from top): Kate Bonney, Will Cox, Eleanor Kay; Ben Francis; Kate Bonney, and Laura Antoniazzi.
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