THEATRE: The Great Gatsby at King’s Head
Matilda Sturridge as Daisy in The Great Gatsby
Published: 23 August, 2012
by SIMON NEVILLE
THE GREAT GATSBY
King's Head Theatre
THE Great Gatsby is a lot like the 46 bus: you wait for ages and then three come along at once.
Joe Evans’ musical adaptation of the F Scott Fitzgerald classic sits alongside two previous productions this year – the sell-out show at Wilton’s Music Hall and the epic eight-hour uncut performance in the West End.
And just like the aforementioned bus route, if you caught either of the first two productions feel free to give this third one a miss.
That’s not to say it’s all bad.
Attempts to recreate the 1920s summer parties is achieved with aplomb thanks to an energetic score, with an equally excitable ensemble dancing around the stage as the audience arrive at their seats.
However, with any decent musical, the songs must move the plot along, something this production fails to do.
A love song or two would have been nice.
And in the second act it seems like Evans runs out of ideas, with three of the five songs being reprised from act one.
F Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal work creates a colour and a passion that is always going to be tough to recreate and this is made far harder here because the book’s narrator Nick Carroway is sidelined.
The action focuses on Jay Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy Buchanan, while Nick’s story of self-discovery is nowhere to be seen.
As for his relationship with Jordan Baker, they may as well have been golf partners rather than lovers because their chemistry appeared elsewhere.
Star turn for the night was Daisy’s domineering husband Tom Buchanan, played by Steven Clarke, who commanded the small stage in the climatic hotel room scene once he discovered the volume control that eluded him in the first act.
Extra credit goes to Evans on piano and Patrick Lannigan on double bass for bringing energy to a score that lacked substance.
UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1
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