Theatre Review
Eleanor Pearson 20 September 2016 The Jazz Age Comes to SydneyThis Spring Epicentre Theatre Company brings The Great Gatsby to
Ku-ring-gai Town Hall for its Sydney premiere. Jay Gatsby, a young, penniless country boy falls in love with Daisy, an aristocratic girl, but before he makes his millions, she marries one of her own class, Tom Buchanan.
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The Great Gatsby |
Simon Levy’s adaptation is nuanced and readily encompasses the subtleties of the characters with all their foibles. It’s a play script and it stands alone.
You don’t really need a lengthy documentary on Prohibition to set the scene, it’s enough that the audience has come to the party (it’s dinner theatre), popping their champagne corks, as jazz music blares, and Jay Gatsby cuts a solitary figure at the top of the stairs.
You don’t really need a lengthy documentary on Prohibition to set the scene, it’s enough that the audience has come to the party (it’s dinner theatre), popping their champagne corks, as jazz music blares, and Jay Gatsby cuts a solitary figure at the top of the stairs.
You don’t need gleaming yellow Rolls Royces careering across the stage, or hundreds of girls in flapper outfits feverishly dancing the Charleston. But it’s fun to recreate the hydroplane ride (with a projected background disappearing in its wake), and it’s almost required to have at least a few dance party scenes.
What Levy’s script demands is a strong cast, and the ability to imagine enough of Gatsby’s world, so that the audience is lifted out of their daily routine and can suspend their disbelief for a couple of hours.
I think it’s fair to say this cast delivered. There are plenty of delightful and poignant moments in this Epicentre production. |
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The scene where Jay (Adam Garden) and Daisy (Kate Gandy) are reunited for the first time in five years is one such moment. It’s raining (you can hear rain falling) and Daisy compliments Jay on his youthful good looks. Meanwhile from the audience you can see a reflected image of Jay’s face in the mirror on the stage. (A nice touch).
Daisy and Jay make such a lovely couple, you really want them to be happy, but where would the drama be without conflict?
Matt Cook’s layered portrayal of the brutish Tom Buchanan is one of the best characterisations in the play. You can observe Tom fuming when he’s losing control. But there’s also a tender moment where Tom comes looking for Daisy at night, and tells her their baby daughter needs her, and you almost pity him.
Daisy and Jay make such a lovely couple, you really want them to be happy, but where would the drama be without conflict?
Matt Cook’s layered portrayal of the brutish Tom Buchanan is one of the best characterisations in the play. You can observe Tom fuming when he’s losing control. But there’s also a tender moment where Tom comes looking for Daisy at night, and tells her their baby daughter needs her, and you almost pity him.
As Tom’s working class mistress Myrtle Wilson, Lauren Hollingworth lights up the stage. Playing Myrtle's wheedling mechanic husband, George, Matthew Grasso has just the right combination of neediness and menace.
Heidi Baleisi as the aristocratic, yet complexed Jordan Baker is stylish and believable. While narrator Nick Carraway (Brett Joachim) brings perspective and humanity, in the end, Nick gets to vent his justifiable anger towards the “careless” and uncaring protagonists.
The Great Gatsby plays until October 8, 2016
Heidi Baleisi as the aristocratic, yet complexed Jordan Baker is stylish and believable. While narrator Nick Carraway (Brett Joachim) brings perspective and humanity, in the end, Nick gets to vent his justifiable anger towards the “careless” and uncaring protagonists.
The Great Gatsby plays until October 8, 2016
Address: Ku-ring-gai Town Hall
Season: 16 September - 8 October Address: 1186 Pacific Hwy, Pymble 2073 |
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