The Great Gatsby

Carraway Cedes

The Great Gatsby

by Ben Clare based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Teddington Theatre Club at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 24^th May

Review by Ralph Stanhope

We not only roar into the Roaring Twenties, but tear into the Roaring Twenties in a most unusual adaptation of Fitzgerald’s acclaimed, and much adapted, novel. Ben Clare’s new and innovative take tears up the plot of the novel and reassembles it as a fictional dramatic documentary involving its eponymous Jay Gatsby and a large cast. One of the protagonists

Nick Carraway becomes a narrator. As such, there is no actual plot, but a series of individual scenes which together constitute The American Dream.

However, the production begins with a powerful musical introduction, launching us into the early 1920’s via a magnificent dance sequence by a very talented group of young dancers. Their routines are stunning, and indeed the choreography throughout is such as is rarely seen on the amateur stage and is undoubtedly the main show-stopper.

Once the opening chorus is over, we approach the actual drama related to us by Nick Carraway, played by Jasper Loxton, who steers us throughout the entire evening’s entertainment. It is a fine and authoritative performance and his strength of character and power of delivery is an important part of the evening. Without it the result could easily have been just a series of incidents with no dramatic basis.

There is no set as such, just an open stage with a front curtain, of advantage to the choreography, but to the detriment of the acoustics and audibility. Some vital plot material may be lost.

The first half is somewhat convoluted, making it difficult to get to know who the characters are, especially as many of the cast play two or three roles. More party scenes with the dancers occur but, brilliant as they are, they fail to advance the actual evening’s progression. The second half is of a somewhat different nature. We are now part of The American Dream and are given much more information on the relationships between the main characters.

Gatsby himself was a self-made millionaire who, in his youth, courted the young Daisy, throwing parties to impress her and to show her off to others. However, she later married a man called Tom Buchanan, an arrogant person with a quick temper. That marriage was much of a sham and Tom subsequently acquired a mistress, Myrtle Wilson. This backstory is important, as Ben Clare uses Fitzgerald’s novel to continue with the story once the American Dream has been established. The subsequent timescale is therefore some considerable years later.

Several performances are of a high nature: Josh Clarke has the right arrogance and temper for Tom and Ellie Armstrong gives a steady and moving Daisy. One wishes that there was a more personal approach to individual actors, in an actual play, so that we could learn more about them. That would no doubt have greatly helped those in the appropriate roles.

One of the best of all the male actors is Alex Farley as George Wilson, whose wife Myrtle was killed in a car accident. His grief is most movingly played. To add to this, the lighting has its tour de force, in that a car’s headlights shine straight into the audience. Now, that is genius.

Gatsby, played by Ian Kinane, is a difficult character to react to and even to like. He has re-established contact with Daisy over the years and the tenderness makes them much more human together, and is the only time we feel “at home” with him. Gatsby is an enigmatic, isolated person— the lone wolf away from the others. In this respect, Kinane gives an impressive and believable performance.

The major problem with the second half is that it is just too long. In transferring a considerable literary work into what is just an evening, one has to be very selective as to what goes in and what does not. With great respect to Ben Clare, who did a sterling job in presentation, preparing the script and, of course, directing the presentation, he could have been more selective. As a result, the play was an unconscionable time a-dying, leaving Jasper Loxton with considerably lengthy speeches at the end. It is to his credit that he managed this as well as he did.

However, the final impression of the evening was one of well-deserved congratulations to Ben Clare and his entire team for giving us a unique and very ambitious presentation. A great deal of hard work had obviously been done, and the splendid costumes, the lighting, the obvious enjoyment and discipline of the entire cast makes this a very professional production and a truly memorable occasion.

Ralph Stanhope, May 2025

Photography by Steve Sitton