Other Stage & Screen Adaptations
by Sean Lantz
Parties
Throughout The Great Gatsby, one of the strongest recurring themes is each person's attempt to separate themselves from reality. Instead of focusing on the real issues that lurk beneath the golden masks of these characters, they party, drink, gamble, and cheat until their problems are small whispers in their minds. Gatsby throws many parties, originally with the hope of drawing in Daisy, but eventually in an attempt to keep himself from waking up from his dream. These parties are not only for himself and the other main characters, but also businessmen, police officers, senators, illegal traders, and anyone who has something that they need to forget about for a while. He continues these for much of the novel until, at Daisy's request, they cease.
Depending on the adaptation that you are watching, these parties can go from classical waltzing to wild and cathartic. Below is a party scene from Theatre Calgary as well as some clips of the parties from Baz Luhrmann's movie. Watch how two versions of the same play can be completely opposite in emotion as well as etiquette.
Theatre Calgary party
Baz Luhrmann movie party
Throughout The Great Gatsby, one of the strongest recurring themes is each person's attempt to separate themselves from reality. Instead of focusing on the real issues that lurk beneath the golden masks of these characters, they party, drink, gamble, and cheat until their problems are small whispers in their minds. Gatsby throws many parties, originally with the hope of drawing in Daisy, but eventually in an attempt to keep himself from waking up from his dream. These parties are not only for himself and the other main characters, but also businessmen, police officers, senators, illegal traders, and anyone who has something that they need to forget about for a while. He continues these for much of the novel until, at Daisy's request, they cease.
Depending on the adaptation that you are watching, these parties can go from classical waltzing to wild and cathartic. Below is a party scene from Theatre Calgary as well as some clips of the parties from Baz Luhrmann's movie. Watch how two versions of the same play can be completely opposite in emotion as well as etiquette.
Theatre Calgary party
Baz Luhrmann movie party
Notice how, since Luhrmann's production is a movie with special effects, Gatsby's party can seem much more grand and exciting. This is a wonderful connection to Gatsby himself: A man surrounded by fireworks and glitter, but still just a man. You can read part of a review of Luhrmann's movie here.
Narration
Another important element that runs throughout the story is the narration. In the novel, Nick Carraway provides commentary on the characters he meets and allows us to glimpse the actual emotions felt by them. The Luhrmann movie does this easily as voice over, much like many movies do. It also changes scenes easily since the movie can simply cut to different ones. I have the link to hear Nick's narration when he first meets Gatsby below.
Nick's narration when he meets Gatsby
Another important element that runs throughout the story is the narration. In the novel, Nick Carraway provides commentary on the characters he meets and allows us to glimpse the actual emotions felt by them. The Luhrmann movie does this easily as voice over, much like many movies do. It also changes scenes easily since the movie can simply cut to different ones. I have the link to hear Nick's narration when he first meets Gatsby below.
Nick's narration when he meets Gatsby
In a play setting, Southport High School changed scenes as they narrated, which seemed to work out well for that production. They dimmed the lights everywhere except on Nick, which allowed them to change the setting around him while the audience attention was focused on his narration.
Skip to (1:34) in the video to see this take place.
Scene changes around Nick
Skip to (1:34) in the video to see this take place.
Scene changes around Nick
The below video shows this same production as Jordan and Nick discuss Daisy while her "past" is onstage. Skip to (0:55) to see how they did this.
Daisy's past is on stage
Daisy's past is on stage
The Stage
Stage size is another thing to look at when discussing the play version of this story. Gatsby has a large personality, so he takes up a lot of space with his presence. Lassiter High School attempted this production with a small stage, which seems to be unusual for the play. You can see part of it below.
Gatsby on a small stage
Stage size is another thing to look at when discussing the play version of this story. Gatsby has a large personality, so he takes up a lot of space with his presence. Lassiter High School attempted this production with a small stage, which seems to be unusual for the play. You can see part of it below.
Gatsby on a small stage