“GATZ” at the Public Theater
Marcus David
November 2024
ELEVATOR REPAIR SERVICE returns to The Public for a thrilling final New York City encore of its critically acclaimed production of GATZ and if you haven’t this is your last chance to see this theatrical and literary tour de force by one of the American theater’s most exciting and inventive companies. Set in a mysterious office, a bored employee enters one morning and comes across a paperback copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, He opens it and goes on to read the entire novel word for word over the course of this eight-hour performance, a truly remarkable endeavor of epic scale and experimental theater at its finest.
Hailed for its unique approach to Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece, GATZ’s quiet and awkward beginning creates an initial disheartening impression, but that feeling soon gives way to excitement as the action soars. Over time a vibrant cast of employees get absorbed into the story by taking on character roles, combine this with the narration and you have truly avant-garde storytelling, somewhat akin to radio theater but well beyond. The framing of the play in a dull office, itself a place of petty hierarchies, is in direct opposition to Fitzgerald’s story of hedonism during the Jazz age. Flashy displays of decadence and extreme wealth often seen in film adaptations are stripped away as the drama is largely created in the audience’s mind, and with the help of this strange workforce that terrible American curse of everything being about how much money you’ve got is effectively illuminated.
The themes of class and cruelty in our society are quite timely when thinking about the present moment we find ourselves in, as once again the hallow promise of American upward mobility and fairness is on display. Wealth acquired the good old fashioned way, through inheritance, has always been in opposition to the self-made individual. Whether making it big comes through legitimate hard work or less savory means, such as bootlegging in the case of Jay Gatsby, inherited wealth will always find a way to crush those that dare intrude on its privilege and territory. Just look at the results of this last presidential election and you’ll witness it again. It’s sad but true, the wealthy still do and always will enjoy the privilege of living in a world without consequences and just as Tom and Daisy they can get away with just about anything.
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
GATZ
Directed by John Collins
Newman Theater
425 Lafayette Street
(at Astor Place)
New York, NY 10003
November 1 – December 1, 2024
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