Ihave to admit I was slightly on edge when I arrived at the Halifax Square Chapel to see an immersive version of The Great Gatsby. “You can dress up and dance (if you want!) or simply sit at the bar and be absorbed into Gatsby’s 1920s world!” encouraged the glossy invite.
Immersive theatre seems to divide opinion. Me, I always prefer to see plays from the safety of a seat, nothing required except to watch what’s happening on-stage. I didn’t really want to move around dance, chat with Gatsby or be told off for sitting on a vintage chez-lounge.
Despite my initial reluctance, I was intrigued. Fitzgerald is one of my favourite writers, The Great Gatsby one of my favourite novels. I studied the text at English A-level and was won over by the author’s lavish prose with its symbolic undercurrent of a decaying post-war America. Transferring this rather complex theme to the stage would be interesting.
On the surface though, portraying Gatsby’s lavish parties worked perfectly. We, the audience, entered into the Square Chapel’s main auditorium area; a few chairs and tables scattered here and there, a tiny bar serving an array of gin cocktails and a small stage with a grand piano to its side. 1920s jazz played in the background and the room had a certain smell to it; a cocktail of perfumes from the time perhaps? It was simple but the senses were engaged, perhaps to be immersed doesn’t mean to be overwhelmed.
And then our narrator Nick Carraway appears, walking among the still rather unsure audience. He stands on a table, suitably attired in 1920s morning suit and tells us about himself and Gatsby, the man responsible for such soirees. Then, all of a sudden, the party begins; more guests (actors) appear doing the Charleston and grabbing audience members to join-in. Here, the immersive theatre divide was most obvious, those in 1920s get-up were keen to join-in, the more reluctant members of the audience slowly shuffling towards the perimeter.
That said, it’s terrific fun, even watching from the side lines but there’s more to come; Chunks of the audience are then separated off as characters take them to other rooms in the Square Chapel building where mini scenes take place; Gatsby’s office, Daisy’s dressing room, Myrtle and George’s bedroom, all decked out perfectly in the décor of the time.
The director and actors deserve tremendous credit for holding all of these moving parts together. Transporting hordes of reluctant – if not a little merry – people round the building to adhere to a strict time frame is quite something, if not a small miracle.
Towards the end of the play’s dark and emotional final scene, back in the main auditorium, I found myself utterly immersed as did everyone else in the room, and as the actors took their bows, I was sold.
It was a fantastic experience, and while the form won’t lend itself to three hours of Macbeth, Scott F Fitzgerald’s great American novel fitted it perfectly. Highly recommended. Review by Mark Glover