| GATZ | Elevator Repair Service |
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Have you ever been so taken by a book, play or film that you just want it to keep going? Have you ever complained that a film or theatre adaptation of your favourite book leaves parts out? GATZ, by New York theatre company, Elevator Repair Service, at Brisbane Powerhouse from Friday 8 – Sunday 10 May 2009 is a six-hour theatrical tour-de-force that will not disappoint on either count.
A low-rent office. A mysterious business. An idle employee finds a ragged copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it aloud…and can’t stop! At first his co-workers seem not to notice but weird coincidences take over until it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is doing something to him…and them!
With a cast of thirteen, GATZ is performed over seven and a half hours, including three intervals totalling ninety minutes. Audiences around the world have been held enthralled and eager to retake their seats after intermission to hear more of the well-known tale.
On the simplest level, this is a literal, line-by-line reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby but it is so much more than any mere description will convey. On a deeper level, the taut cast of this brilliant and exciting theatre company deconstruct the text, bringing new layers of nuance.
Director John Collins started rehearsing GATZ in 1999 as an adaptation but the more he worked on the script the more he realised that he didn’t want to leave anything out – he wanted to use every word of the novel. With initial problems gaining permission from the F. Scott Fitzgerald estate to use the entire text, Collins put the delay to good use. The company continued to rehearse the production purely for love of their craft and because they too became enamoured with the text.
While Elevator Repair Service is barred from performing GATZ in New York by the F. Scott Fitzgerald estate (another adaptation holds precedence), this breathtaking production has already won rave reviews around the world and throughout the US.
Above all, GATZ is demonstrative of that perfect discovery – a good book that must be read to the end at the expense of work, food and sleep – until the last page is turned. Witness the magic, the moment, the chemistry of something great when GATZ takes over the Powerhouse Theatre from Friday 8 – Sunday 10 May 2009.
“One of those I-was-there theatre productions … people will talk about for many many years.” - The Bulletin, Philadelphia
“Theatre of the highest order.” - Time Out, New York
Brisbane Powerhouse and Philip Bacon Galleries present
GATZ
Elevator Repair Service
Venue Powerhouse Theatre
Date 8 – 10 May 2009
Time Fri 6pm, Sat 3pm, Sun 2pm
Tickets $73/$58
Dinner Watt $42, Bar Alto $42, Dinner Box $27
Bookings NB Online bookings not available for this show Please call box office on 07 3358 8600
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Saturday, 10 January 2009
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