i saw the elevator repair service perform the great gatsby tonight at on the boards. perform, perhaps, does not describe it. they read. the entire. book. from beginning to end. starting at 5pm and reading that last beautifully alliterate line about boats and pasts and inevitability until 1:15 in the fucking morning. hardcore. and a whole big audience strapped in for the ride, like we were about to get on the plane that was going to take us on vacation to that island in the caribean (or however you spell that goddam word) where shitty theatre is against the law and there is

Why do this? The Great Gatsby in its entirety - set in some office that feels more like an excuse of place, than a necessary part of the storytelling. Does it provide me with some new understanding of office politics? Are human beings all searching for that elusive American Dream, especially those working in dingy offices? Are they screaming for a better life, or compromising with every breath and wondering why the Dream has slipped through their grasp? Why this place? Why now? How is the human condition illuminated by Elevator Repair Service’s Gatz?

It sounds like a stunt -- and it is, but you soon join the spirit of it. You also fall out of it occasionally, but Gatz cajoles you back in with a sly gesture or a moment when Fitzgerald's novel is translated into surprising sideways theatricality. A few moments feel forced or jokey -- when a bit of razzle-dazzle seems to happen out of nervousness on the part of the actors or director -- but strikingly few. The vast majority of six hours plus unfolds as naturally and organically as a flower.

Download and have a listen to an mp3 audio interview with ERS's artistic director John Collins, as he talks about the creation and presentation of Gatz.