Critique+for+The+Great+Gatsby

Often directors become so consumed in crafting a theatrical play that they neglect to pay attention to successfully delivering plot points, yet Marotta’s production of //the Great Gatsby// juggled both realism and theatricalism with relative success. Marotta’s costume design and acting added realistic elements to the play, while the set, lighting, and modernity added theatrical elements to the play. Given the size of the set and the cost of the costumes, I assume this performance had quite a large budget; and Marotta took full advantage of his large billfold. The gargantuan set coupled with the lighting created a mysterious and grand atmosphere, while the extravagant outfits characteristic of the 1920’s made the performance more believable.

Impressions are made within the first 30 seconds, so it is crucial the actors’ appearances and costumes perfectly reflect the characters they are trying to portray. Although Daisy’s hair captured the short wavy style of the 1920s, seeing her as anything but blonde was difficult for me. Daisy is supposed to be seen as a superficial and capricious, which is typically associated with blonde hair. As Gatsby is a rich millionaire and concerned only about his appearance, one would expect that his clothes are all perfectly fitting and tailored, so it was a little off putting when Gatsby’s white suit was too big for him. However, these are minor criticisms of an overall exceptional job of costume design by Jordan Jaked. The costumes fit the mold of the typical 1920s attire, from the flapper dresses down to the lavish accessories. Jaked’s decision to make the narrator wear the same cheap, light gray suit for most of the play, but make the rest of the characters wear different, expensive outfits helped outline the narrator’s distaste for the materialistic society of the time period. All in all, this realistic approach to costume design really helped to enhance my suspension of disbelief.

Although I was thoroughly impressed by the believability of the costumes, I was only marginally impressed by the believability of the acting in //The Great Gatsby//. Although the narrator’s fascination with Gatsby arises from Gatsby’s almost child-like idealism, Gatsby should not be seen as a child due to his dark background, yet he frolicked around stage too lightly and innocently. Whenever he said “old sport,” he would put a heavy emphasis on “old sport,” regardless of if it belonged there. The narrator’s character is supposed to be excited to live the New York lifestyle at the very beginning of the play, yet he seemed very bored with everyone at the beginning of the play. If the narrator isn’t infatuated with the New York lifestyle initially, his transition to viewing the society as sinful is not as powerful or moving. Meyer Wolfensheim’s casting and Jordan Baker’s casting only compounded to the problem. Seeing Meyer played by a woman dressed as a man stuck out like a sore thumb; if Marotta wanted someone to act as a man, he should have cast a man. Also, Marotta most likely gave Wolfensheim a limp to reflect his old age, but instead it just made Wolfensheim look feeble, which does not fit with his mobster character. Jordan Baker is the epitome of the of the new age female aristocrat of the time desired by nearly all men; however, Baker’s casting did not add the sex appeal that is necessary for this role. Despite these blips by the actors, I feel as if the actors managed to do a decent job overall, primarily due to their exceptional voice acting. Their lines were appropriately timed, Meyer’s accent helped convey his mobster background, and the narrator’s calm voice helped develop him as level-headed. Additionally, Tom’s casting perfectly fit the mold of intimidatingly large and heartless football player.

Many elements of the play could be classified as “over the top,” or “out of place:” Tom punching Myrtle instead of slapping her, the humongous set, and butlers changing the set. However, this excessively dramatic approach helped create a grand and mysterious aura about Gatsby and stick the “Great” in front of Gatsby. The use of the proscenium arch stage as opposed to the cellar theatre, the enormous staircase, and the expansive curtains overwhelmed me with their size and grandeur. The arches and the curtains were both colored purple to suggest royalty and wealth. The deep green and dark blue backgrounds to the set reminded me of the mystery associated with the ocean. The large, detailed eyes on the staircase also casted a shroud of mystery on the play. These aspects of the set were not necessarily typical of a 1920s mansion; however, Marotta’s decision to focus on developing Gatsby’s nature through the set paid off as I was always able to understand where the action was occurring while at the time sense the grand atmosphere created by the set.

Not only did the eyes develop the aura of mystery associated with Gatsby, they forced the audience contemplate on their own materialistic nature. When Fitzgerald wrote //The Great Gatsby//, he hoped it would force the superficial society of the 1920s to reflect on the morality behind their actions; Marotta’s play achieves this end. Every time a sinful act was committed as a result of the fickle, shallow attitudes of the characters, the eyes appeared as if to suggest God’s omniscient presence always judging the characters. This in turn forced me contemplate the morality of the character’s superficiality, which caused me to question my own beliefs about materialism. Marotta also used Mytle to comment on the morality of the lifestyle of the time. Myrtle’s character is initially poor, but enjoys a lavish lifestyle through sacrificing her morality and cheating on her husband with Tom. She represents society’s desire to live the lavish lifestyle of the time and ends the play in the same position she starts, crumpled up on the floor. Not only did this tie a bow around an already elegantly wrapped production, it conveyed the cyclical nature of dissatisfaction of her lifestyle.

Although the production was set in the 1920s, I enjoyed some of the more modern elements in the production. I was not sitting far back enough to ever tweet anything; however, audience members had the option to tweet their thoughts and opinions of the production to @ugatheatre. During one of the party scenes, one of the characters was “twerking.” The dialogue in the play is designed to resemble the speech of the 1920s, so it can occasionally become a little tough to decipher; however, Marotta’s minor use of modern elements providing a comforting presence to counterbalance the unfamiliarity of the speech.

The subliminal messaging associated with many of the theatrical elements helped create the proper mysterious and grandiose atmosphere necessary for a production of //The Great Gatsby//. These theatrical elements of Marotta’s production of //The Great Gatsby// counterbalanced the only decent costume design and acting to create an overall unique and well strung together play.