★★★✰✰
The ambiance of Covent Garden on a summer’s evening is hard to match, and contributed considerably to the lively atmosphere in the courtyard of St. Paul’s Church as Tethered Wits theatre company welcomed audience members to their performance of The Great Gatsby.
Gatsby is a story that most are familiar with, a fact that this production occasionally relies a little too heavily on. During the crucial death scene, it’s unclear what has actually happened to her. We see Nick, Tom and Jordan driving back from the city (the car inventively implied through spinning parasol wheels and a silver platter steering wheel), but as the fateful hit and run occurs there’s not quite enough context that what we’re seeing is a car accident.
This is in part due to the small scale of the production; the cast consists of just five actors, all of whom take on multiple roles. Even so, they manage to make the stage feel far more crowded than it really is. It’s impressive that the atmosphere during hedonistic, raucous party scenes are entirely believable, with well thought-out choreography, a fast-paced script and rapid character changes, along with Nick’s narration of events, building a sense of busyness and chaos.
The acting is commendable, with each cast member holding their own—even among the intrusion of church bells, circus performances and raucous seagulls from the real world. Particularly of note was Rory Dulku, who executes the dramatic emotional journeys of both Gatsby and George Wilson with a convincing flair.
Deakin Van Leeuwen creates an immediately imposing, ominous impression in his depiction of Tom, and his castmates’ wary, physical reactions to his presence efficiently put across his danger from the off. Daisy, on the other hand, is vague and disconnected from everything around her. While a lack of connection between characters occasionally mars the overall impact of the performance—eyelines rarely meet, but are instead aimed at the middle distance as lines are delivered—Olivia Willis’ approach to her character is well-balanced and fits the bill.
Stockley plays Nick as a complete innocent, the go-between for the audience and the events on stage. His nervous but enthusiastic energy is charming, and his gradual change in worldview as he discovers just how corrupt and unfair the world and the people around him are is played to a tee. By the end of the performance, Nick is world-weary and has a sense of bitterness about him—something cemented in his final monologue, lifted near-directly from Fitzgerald’s novel. Stockley’s performance of this crucial moment grows wonderfully in intensity, but ends too soon; its power could be maintained for a little longer.
Our final view of Tom and Daisy comes through a perfect duet of ‘D’ye Love Me?’, which neatly sums up their characters and their worldviews—perhaps in place of Nick’s oddly omitted comment on their careless natures. Less impactful, however, is the close of the play. Gatsby, at centre stage, sings a somewhat on-the-nose solo after the more thoughtful choices made thus far. Ending with an ode to Daisy frames the story entirely around their relationship, which, as anyone who has sat in a GCSE class about the novel knows, is not the crux of the novel.
That being said, Tethered Wits’ The Great Gatsby is an entertaining, well-produced adaptation of an iconic novel that manages to offer something new amid the myriad versions already on the market. This is a theatre company to keep track of; if you see their posters pop up at a venue near you, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Words by Lucy Carter
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