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| Gatz: Eight-hour Gatsby play opens in London | Gatz: Eight-hour Gatsby play opens in London |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The full text of F Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby is to be performed in London, in an eight-hour show at the Noel Coward Theatre. | The full text of F Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby is to be performed in London, in an eight-hour show at the Noel Coward Theatre. |
| Critics will attend the press preview of Gatz on Wednesday, with the audience taking their seats at 14:30 BST. | Critics will attend the press preview of Gatz on Wednesday, with the audience taking their seats at 14:30 BST. |
| The play has transferred from Broadway, where it was called "a work of singular imagination and intelligence" by the New York Times. | The play has transferred from Broadway, where it was called "a work of singular imagination and intelligence" by the New York Times. |
| It runs for a month, as part of the London 2012 Festival. | It runs for a month, as part of the London 2012 Festival. |
| Some famous faces have come out for Wednesday's performance, including Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, actress Juliet Stevenson and playwright Sir David Hare and his wife, designer Nicole Farhi, according to BBC reporter Rebecca Jones. | |
| 'Marathon' | 'Marathon' |
| Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby has long been regarded as a US literary classic. | Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby has long been regarded as a US literary classic. |
| More than eight hours long, and featuring all 49,000 words of F Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Gatz sounds more like a test of endurance than an entertaining trip to the theatre. | More than eight hours long, and featuring all 49,000 words of F Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Gatz sounds more like a test of endurance than an entertaining trip to the theatre. |
| Preparing to see the show involves careful planning. Patricia Macnaughton, who is 83, arrived half an hour before the curtain went up. "Because I'm an old lady I've brought a cushion," she said. | Preparing to see the show involves careful planning. Patricia Macnaughton, who is 83, arrived half an hour before the curtain went up. "Because I'm an old lady I've brought a cushion," she said. |
| Sophie Kisilevsky, 20, added: "I'm quite glad there are a few breaks because it's so long and I've heard it's quite intense." | |
| The general mood is one of excitement. I'm off to visit the bathroom, and to find seat G13, my home for the next few hours. | The general mood is one of excitement. I'm off to visit the bathroom, and to find seat G13, my home for the next few hours. |
| Set in New York, the story is about the dreams and delusions of the nouveau riche in the 1920s. | Set in New York, the story is about the dreams and delusions of the nouveau riche in the 1920s. |
| The idea to turn the novel into a stage play came from John Collins, of experimental theatre group Elevator Repair Service. | The idea to turn the novel into a stage play came from John Collins, of experimental theatre group Elevator Repair Service. |
| He told the Guardian the aim was to make a show using "non-dramatic source material. To take something from one medium and make it work in our medium." | He told the Guardian the aim was to make a show using "non-dramatic source material. To take something from one medium and make it work in our medium." |
| The production begins in an office that has clearly seen better days. As an unenthusiastic employee waits for his computer to boot up, he discovers a battered copy of Gatsby, and reads the opening line: "In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice..." | The production begins in an office that has clearly seen better days. As an unenthusiastic employee waits for his computer to boot up, he discovers a battered copy of Gatsby, and reads the opening line: "In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice..." |
| Over the course of the next eight hours (including three intervals), the character recites, and is seduced by, the text of the Jazz Age novel. Gradually, his work colleagues "become" characters in the novel, the text merging with real life. | Over the course of the next eight hours (including three intervals), the character recites, and is seduced by, the text of the Jazz Age novel. Gradually, his work colleagues "become" characters in the novel, the text merging with real life. |
| Scott Shepherd, the actor who plays the narrator Nick Carraway, said he now knows the text of Gatsby off by heart. | Scott Shepherd, the actor who plays the narrator Nick Carraway, said he now knows the text of Gatsby off by heart. |
| His other cast-mates have likened the performance to a "marathon". | His other cast-mates have likened the performance to a "marathon". |
| "They serve us Power Bars in chapter four, get a cigarette in chapter eight, and maybe if you're lucky a shot of whiskey," Jim Fletcher, who plays Jay Gatsby, told The Huffington Post during the play's New York run. | "They serve us Power Bars in chapter four, get a cigarette in chapter eight, and maybe if you're lucky a shot of whiskey," Jim Fletcher, who plays Jay Gatsby, told The Huffington Post during the play's New York run. |
| "[The show] becomes your day. It has a way of absorbing whatever your state is," Shepherd added. | "[The show] becomes your day. It has a way of absorbing whatever your state is," Shepherd added. |
| "So when I get exhausted, it's like, 'ok that's what we're going to funnel'. The channelling of the book will then come through this exhaustion." | "So when I get exhausted, it's like, 'ok that's what we're going to funnel'. The channelling of the book will then come through this exhaustion." |
| Gatz is one of three productions of Fitzgerald's novel due this year. | Gatz is one of three productions of Fitzgerald's novel due this year. |
| A musical adaption will open at the King's Head Theatre in Islington, north London in August. | A musical adaption will open at the King's Head Theatre in Islington, north London in August. |
| Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann is also putting the finishing touches to a 3D film adaptation, starring British actress Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio, who takes the title role. | Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann is also putting the finishing touches to a 3D film adaptation, starring British actress Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio, who takes the title role. |
| A trailer for the movie, which is scheduled for release at the end of the year, was released in May. | A trailer for the movie, which is scheduled for release at the end of the year, was released in May. |
| It is scored by anachronistic music from the likes of rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, suggesting the movie will use a similarly scattergun approach to Luhrmann's updated version of Romeo and Juliet. | It is scored by anachronistic music from the likes of rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, suggesting the movie will use a similarly scattergun approach to Luhrmann's updated version of Romeo and Juliet. |