Elevator Repair Service Presents LIFT Production of GATZ, Now thru 7/15

Elevator Repair Service announced that London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) is set to present GATZ tonight, June 8 through July 15, 2012.

GATZ
Created and Performed by Elevator Repair Service
Text: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Directed by John Collins
Noël Coward Theatre, London
June 8th – July 15th, 2012.
23 performances only.

GATZ is a word-for-word staging of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in a theatrical tour de force. GATZ is presented at the Noël Coward Theatre as part of LIFT 2012 and the London 2012 Festival.

About the show: Elevator Repair Service’s GATZ is an eight-hour performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 seminal work on the fallibility of the American dream. Spread over four acts which take you from early afternoon into evening with a long dining interval, GATZ has taken the world by storm, and in 2010 was New York’s hottest ticket. For 23 performances only GATZ will be at The NoëlCoward Theatre on St. Martin’s Lane as part of LIFT 2012.

"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."

Spread over 8 hours and with a cast of 13, including Wooster Group regular Scott Shepherd, 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.

Elevator Repair Service, atheatre 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. www.elevator.org

GATZ was created and developed by the Elevator Repair Service ensemble, which includes the London cast: 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, and features scenic design by Louisa Thompson, costume design by Colleen Werthmann,lighting design by Mark Barton, and sound design by Ben Williams.