F. Scott Fitzgerald’s renowned tale of the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age comes to the stage at Southwark Playhouse in a captivating musical adaptation by Ruby in the Dust Theatre. Following previous successes as a sell out concert at Crazy Coqs in Piccadilly and an online streamed concert performance at Cadogan Hall Gatsby: The Musical is set to show at Southwark Playhouse this December.
Set in a New York Speakeasy in late December, 1929, we watch the new decade quickly approach as the story unfolds through the eyes of Daisy Buchanan. It has been seven years since she last saw Gatsby, yet the past lingers. Their illicit romance was a cocktail of adoration and complications that needs to be confronted so she can move on, so she bravely returns to the dangerous world she once left behind. Meeting a carnival of characters, including notorious gangster Woolfe, Daisy approaches her past by reliving the dream she shared with Gatsby. But who is she really? And where is Gatsby?
This original retelling of Fitzgerald’s classic novel pivots the focus to Daisy, with references to the real woman that inspired her character; his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald. Written and directed by Linnie Reedman, with original compositions by Joe Evans, the story switches between the beginning of the 1920s to the turn of the decade, while Fitzgerald’s fantastical characters play out the drama of the novel. With elegant pace, a smoky jazz score and garnished with wry humour, Gatsby: The Musical revels in the decadence of the period.
Writer and Director Linnie Reedman comments, “Gatsby has become, over the years, synonymous with glamour, glitz and parties. What a lot of people forget, however, is that the ‘Roaring Twenties’ came immediately after a World War. And a global pandemic. It was a period of upheaval and great change. I think the story of a crushed American dreamed, juxtaposed against individual hope and optimism is essentially pertinent today…” Vibrant characters, decadent music and infectious rhythms collide with personal conflicts and lost loves This production is a fresh understanding of characters and a story made compellingly relevant to today. Themes of loss and disappointment are intertwined with a sense of hope for a better tomorrow and a green light that keeps us reaching out. Gatsby: The Musical is now resonant with the Roaring Twenties we find ourselves in once again.
