The Great Gatsby in 250 words
Posted on 29 November 2017
The Great Gatsby, currently in London, is an immersive theatrical experience based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's legendary novel. Although disjointed at times, the production is fun and atmospheric.
The Great Gatsby sits somewhere between a structured experience and a themed party. The first half of the 2-hour production is fun but unstructured, with small, randomly chosen groups experiencing different scenes based on Fitzgerald's novel. As a Gatsby fan, I loved the jazzy atmosphere of this first half. But, whilst the relaxed tone of the production did add to the ambience, the fact that the selection of groups was completely random did mean that some people were left in the main hall for quite a while and may have missed some key moments.
The story becomes more intense in the second half of the production, which feels at times like an interruption. Towards the end of the evening, the audience ends up listening to monologues and watching scenes, which was a slow in pace compared to the rest of the event (particularly if you missed some of the build-up to these scenes earlier on).
Throughout, the chaos that always lies beneath the surface of The Great Gatsby is created extremely convincingly. To this end, the immersive nature of the event works extremely well, although a little more polish and structure could make it flow more smoothly. Why not see for yourself? If you are a Gatsby fan and want a fun evening out, you can catch this experience until December.
