THE GREAT GATSBY at the Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★

“Fans of F Scott Fitzgerald and afficionados of ‘The Great Gatsby’ will not be disappointed”

‘On Air’ productions have become a popular staple of Theatre Royal, Windsor over the past few years, with their adaptations of classics read in an authentic studio setting, The style is that of a vintage radio drama, complete with live sound effects, replicating the medium that reached its height in the 1930s and 1940s. The atmosphere is authentically recreated for the latest production of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, “The Great Gatsby”, even if we are a bit unsure of which decade of the twentieth century we are entering. The (uncredited) set design is a gorgeous period concoction, more H G Wells than the Jazz Age, onto which the cast assemble as though stumbling out of one of Jay Gatsby’s all-nighters on Long Island.

Foley Artist (Martin Carroll) urges the ensemble to take their positions at the microphones while the Greenwich Time Signal counts down with its pips and the ‘On Air’ sign flickers. There is little, if any, preamble except for a few bars of Sophie Burke’s ragtime soundtrack at the piano. It is a shame as a hint of the dynamics between the cast and crew ‘off air’ would have lifted the show from its resemblance to a rehearsed reading, albeit a faithful and accomplished retelling of the story. Roy Marsden’s staging coasts in a no man’s land where not enough visual concessions are made for a theatre audience.

We all know the story, narrated from the point of view of Nick Carraway – Gatsby’s neighbour during the summer of 1922 – told in the first person. George Banks takes on the mantle to steer us through the narrative. A calm and articulate presence, Banks shifts from the role of narrator to that of his character within the action but makes no alteration in his delivery between the two. With the exception of Carley Stenson’s rich voiced Daisy Buchanan and Charlie Clements’ imposing Tom Buchanan, the rest of the cast double up. Eva O’Hara is a delightfully tipsy, party-loving Lucille but slightly flat as cheating, celebrity golfer Jordan Baker. Holly Smith successfully conveys Myrtle Wilson’s frustrated social status with her musical Bronx twang, cutting to a crisp RP for her minor cameos. Forgive me for any discrepancies as the programme credits don’t necessarily match what is unfolding onstage.

Barnaby Tobias, in the ‘great’ eponymous role appears to be a late replacement, but he has the strongest grasp of characterisation, peeling away the often-misplaced enigma that is Gatsby, to reveal the fast-talking, jittery awkwardness of a man out of his depth. Doubling as garage owner George Wilson he matches Smith’s ability to switch dialect on a dime.

Much of the playing space is given over to the collection of devices at Carroll’s disposal for the live soundscape. Like the overall theatrical concept, it is underused, and like the overall production, tricks have been missed and temptations for innovation have been resisted. We are left with the nagging question of the purpose of the exercise, especially with a story so iconic and recognised. It does, however, work well as a nostalgia piece but even then, it spurns the opportunity for experimentation that the breakthrough in radio drama originally offered nearly a century ago. There is a laziness that runs through, underlined by the dayglo highlighted markings incongruously splashed on the actors’ scripts. Weakening the sense of period it also heightens the feeling that we are guests at a reading.

Fans of F Scott Fitzgerald and afficionados of ‘The Great Gatsby’ will not be disappointed. Marsden’s adaptation is lovingly faithful to the book, but on the page only, which is where it remains in this interpretation, not quite making the journey to the stage in the style Jay Gatsby would have liked to arrive in.