Black Eyed Theatre’s The Great Gatsby
In early march 2016, Stephen Sharkey’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby was performed at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre by the cast of Black Eyed Theatre. A cast of seven actors re-told the story of the glitz and glamour of the 1920’s, using live music to accompany the story.
When I entered the auditorium, I was excited by Victoria Spearing’s set design which looked chic and classy, with a modern edge. I liked how the set wasn’t minimal, as I feel it said a lot about the production from the outset. I also thought that the use of technology was an effective technique which gave the performance a contemporary feel.
I really enjoyed the scene where Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchanan were looking through Gatsby’s wardrobe at his expensive shirts. Accompanied by music, the actors all dance around the stage each holding a shirt to symbolize a dance partner. I thought this scene created an energetic vibe and could be used as inspiration for our show ‘Love First, Live Incidentally.’ As we are an all-female theatre company, and lacking male bodies, a simple prop like a shirt could be used to represent a male figure. A shirt would provide a clever take on the presence and absence of F. Scott Fitzgerald in Zelda’s life, as she sometimes felt like he wasn’t really around and spent more of his time writing his novels and attracting other female attention.
I did notice that throughout the performance some of the actors struggled to keep to the American accent. I too sometimes have difficulty in maintaining an American accent when performing, so when playing the role of Zelda Fitzgerald I need to ensure that I practice my accent thoroughly. My vocal technique is something which I intend to practice every day from now up until our performance, as I don’t want to break in and out of the accent like some of the actors did in Black Eyed Theatre’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby, as it was very noticeable.