Delfont Mackintosh Theatres // COUNTDOWN TO LIFT 2012!

London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT 2012) presents The UK Premiere of GATZ

Created and Performed by Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins

Noël Coward Theatre
8 June - 15 July 2012. 23 performances only.

Press Performance: 13 June at 2.30pm

A seductive word-for-word staging of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

'James Gatz - that was really, or at least legally, his name.'

Imagine your favourite book coming to life before your eyes. Imagine losing yourself so completely in the world created by the writer that, as it comes to an end, you want to start again.

This is the response that has come from audiences to Elevator Repair Service's extraordinary production GATZ - an eight-hour event performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 seminal work on the fallibility of the American dream. Spread over four parts which take you from early afternoon into evening, including a long dining interval, GATZ has taken America by storm, and is New York's hottest ticket. For 23 performances only GATZ will be at The Noel Coward Theatre on St Martin's Lane as part of LIFT 2012.

The most remarkable achievement in theater not only of this year but also of this decade. The Elevator Repair Service's word-for-word presentation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby" captured - in inventively theatrical terms - the unmatchable, heady rush of falling in love with a book. And Scott Shepherd, as a common reader seduced by a great American novel, gave - hands down - the year's most heroic performance. - Ben Brantley, The New York Times 2010

One morning in the shabby office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter on his desk. He starts to read it out loud and doesn't stop. At first his co-workers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it's no longer clear whether he's reading the book or the book is transforming him.

With a cast of 13, including Wooster Group regular Scott Shepherd, who won an Obie Award for his performance, GATZ is not a retelling of the Gatsby story but an enactment of the novel itself. Fitzgerald's American masterpiece is startlingly brought to life by a low-rent office staff in the midst of their inscrutable business operations.

The cast includes Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Jim Fletcher (Jim), Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz), Lindsay Hockaday (alternate Catherine) Mike Iveson (Ewing), Vin Knight (Chester), Aaron Landsman (George), Annie McNamara (Catherine, alternate Jordan), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Scott Shepherd (Nick), Susie Sokol (Jordan), Lucy Taylor (Daisy), and Ben Williams (Michaelis).

GATZ's Associate Director is Steve Bodow, scenic design is by Louisa Thompson, costume design by Colleen Werthmann, lighting design by Mark Barton, and sound design by Ben Williams.

Elevator Repair Service, a multi-award winning theatre ensemble, was founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991. Since that time, ERS has built a body of work that has earned it a loyal following and made it one of New York's most highly acclaimed theatre companies of the past 20 years. GATZ has been seen across America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. www.elevator.org

LIFT 2012 will take place across London from June 11th to July 15th. Led by Artistic Director Mark Ball, LIFT is an exhilarating London wide festival of provocative and compelling contemporary theatre and performance of all sizes, brought from across the globe, which reflect both London and the world we live in. The full programme for LIFT 2012 will be announced in March. www.liftfestival.com

GATZ is part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, bringing leading artists from all over the world together in a UK-wide festival in the summer of 2012.

Friday 10 Febraury 2012

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