Gatz, Stage Adaptation of The Great Gatsby, Returns to The Public Theater

Gatz, the critically lauded theatrical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, will return to the Public Theater this spring for a seven-week engagement. Directed by John Collins and featuring Scott Shepherd as Nick, this production began its initial run at the off-Broadway venue on September 26, 2010, and extended twice before closing on November 28. The return engagement will begin previews on March 14, 2012, and run through May 6 in the Newman Theater.

Gatz is described as a two-part, six-and-a-half-hour theatrical event, taking 13 actors and the audience through every word of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. A small business employee finds a copy of the book in the clutter of his desk, starts to read it out loud and doesn’t stop. At first his co-workers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is transforming him.

The piece was created and developed by the Elevator Repair Service ensemble, which includes Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Frank Boyd (George), Jim Fletcher (Jim), Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz), Mike Iveson (Ewing), Vin Knight (Chester), Annie McNamara (Catherine), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Scott Shepherd (Nick), Susie Sokol (Jordan), Victoria Vazquez (Daisy), and Ben Williams (Michaelis). 

Due to an "artist scheduling conflict," the world premiere of The Twenty-Seventh Man, originally scheduled to run from February 21 to March 25, 2012, will now open at the Public in November 2012. Barry Edelstein helms this piece, adapted by author Nathan Englander from his short story of the same name.