John Collins stages the six-hour production that utilizes every word of Fitzgerald's 1925 novel without the addition of new text. Performances run through Feb. 7.
According to press notes, "Gatz begins one morning in the low-rent office of a mysterious small business when an employee finds a ragged old copy of 'The Great Gatsby' in the clutter of his desk and starts to read it out loud. And doesn’t stop. At first his coworkers hardly seem to notice, but then strange coincidences start happening in the office, one after another, until it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is doing something to him…"
The cast includes Scott Shepherd as Nick, the narrator; Victoria Vazquez as Daisy; Jim Fletcher in the title role; and Gary Wilmes as Tom. Completing the ensemble are Susie Sokol (Jordan), Sibyl Kempson (Jordan), Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Aaron Landsman (Wilson), Frank Boyd (Wilson), Annie McNamara (Catherine), Kristen Sieh (Catherine), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Vin Knight (Chester), Mike Iveson (Klipspringer), Ben Williams (Michaelis) and Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz).
Steve Bodow serves as associate director. The design team includes Louisa Thompson (set design), Mark Barton (lighting design), Colleen Werthmann (costume design) and Ben Williams (sound design).
Gatz was created by the theatrical ensemble Elevator Repair Service in 2004 and has toured internationally to the Sydney Opera House, the Holland Festival, the Vienna Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center and the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. Gatz will be presented in full-day marathons (including two intermissions and an hour-long dinner break), and separate evenings showing chapters 1-5, and others presenting chapters 6-9.
The New York Times reports that Elevator Repair Service has received approval from the F. Scott Fitzgerald estate to bring the production to New York after its Boston debut, possibly as early as fall 2010, though confirmed plans have not been announced.
For tickets, visit AmericanRepertoryTheater. A.R.T. is located at 64 Brattle Street in Cambridge, MA.
