Gatz

[skynyc]

Sunday I went to GATZ at the Public Theater. Quite amazing, actually. 8 1/2 hours...it was basically a staged reading of The Great Gatsby, but was much much more. I hadn't read it since we were required to in High School and I can assure you that I didn't appreciate the prose at that time...but it really is a beautifully written piece.

 

Set in an industrial office, cluttered and run-down, the show starts when a worker comes in and is unable to get his computer working. He hits the alt button again and again...nothing.

 

So he finds a copy of The Great Gatsby and starts reading. For about twenty minutes he reads on, getting strange looks from his co-workers, but then he changes his voice to fit a character and then a moment later, almost unexpectedly, (although we've been expecting it all along), a woman recites the appropriate line from Jordan Baker.

 

Broken into two parts with a dinner break we get a recitation of the entire text. Every "he said" and "she replied" intact. And the surroundings are directed to rather stunningly parallel the text. At one point the text talks of the ringing of church bells, just as one man is having trouble with his typewriter, and the bell dings eight or nine times.

 

And as the story progresses, the sound effects of foghorns and crickets, traffic, and appropriate music drift in subtly just adding to the piece. An exercise in listening, this was the best of an audiobook, with a full production and a stunning cast.

 

There were some really magical moments and although very long...and the seats weren't very comfortable, I am so glad I went.