Ross's PLAF Diary for Thursday, August 30-Friday, August 31

Performance: Gatz (Elevator Repair Service) (Future performances)

So I got my proverbial PLAF cherry popped the other night. Frankly, if I wasn't writing for Phillyist, I would not be attending any PLAF events. "Experimental theatre" and "performance art" are terms that generally send a shiver up my spine. But Editor Jill sat me down and we went through the catalog and a couple of shows actually piqued my interest. So here we go...

Gatz
Gatz is a staged reading... theatrical adaptation... something-or-other... of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic The Great Gatsby. Gatsby was in high school and is today my favorite novel in the American canon. And it's a good thing, because if I'm going to commit to sitting through seven hours of anything, I'd better be pretty damn sure it's something I'll enjoy. So it's my favorite novel put on "in a way it has never been done before," or at least that's what the promotional materials said. So I figured this one was worth the risk. And I was absolutely right.

A word of caution, just in case you missed it above: this production is seven hours long. I'll say it again. Seven hours long. This is not for people with short attention spans. Or average attention spans. Or even above-average attention spans. Make no mistake about it, intermissions or dinner break or no, seven hours is a long time to have to pay attention to any single thing in a day. So what makes Gatz worth a whole day of your life?

First, Fitzgerald's amazing prose. And as readable as Fitzgerald is, his writing is even more beautiful when heard read aloud. It draws you in, and it isn't long before you're in Fitzgerald's world, straddling the border between the real world and the world of dreams (and nightmares). Elevator Repair Service made a conscious decision not to cut a single word from the novel, a choice I wholeheartedly applaud. And Scott Shepherd reads the novel perfectly, at times as a detached narrator and at times as an involved character, just as Nick Carraway is in the book itself. It's no wonder Shepherd's mundane officeman finds himself trapped between the world of his dingy workspace and Fitzgerald's wonderland. Fitzgerald's writing draws him in, and Shepherd's earnest reading brings the audience along for the ride.

Once you're in caught between the "reality" of the dark, nondescript office in which Shepherd and his fellow actors/co-workers function and the "fantasy" of Gatsby, the performance takes off. It'll take you about forty minutes to get there, but it's worth the wait. At first, you'll think you're just going to have to sit through Shepherd reading the book at his desk. But eventually, Shepherd's co-worker casually reading a golf magazine on a couch and practicing her swing becomes professional golfer Jordan Baker, the "boss" becomes Jay Gatsby, and so on.

I'll confess, when watching Gatz, there were times when I found my mind wandering. There were points when I was only half-concentrating on what I was seeing and hearing. But for me personally, that's what happens when I read a novel, too... even a great one. And my mental lapses never lasted more than a few minutes, and even when I snapped back into what was happening on the stage in front of me, I found that I had subconsciously absorbed the information presented while I was off somewhere in my own mind, which frequently is what occurs when reading.

Gatz manages to re-create and re-invent the experience of the American novel. It's not perfect, and you may find yourself longing for the next intermission at points. But that's to be expected of a production that takes a whole afternoon and evening to perform. And I've never seen anything quite like it. But this show is clearly not for everyone. If you do not enjoy Fitzgerald's writing, do not put yourself through Gatz. If you do not think you can devote sufficient attention to a seven-hour production, find something else to do with your weekend. But if you think you can make it, Gatz provides a thoroughly unique theatrical experience, and I for one am thoroughly glad I was there.