Stately home visitors invited to take on a different role.
A ground-breaking piece of immersive theatre created in York before travelling the world and achieving acclaim in the West End returns home this month. The Great Gatsby, a production created by writer, musician and performer Alexander Wright, based on F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, places the audience in the heart of 1920s opulence, glamour, music and celebration. It is aptly staged at Castle Howard, one of county’s finest country homes.
Visitors will be able to watch the story unfold around them – following characters around the house, uncovering secrets in intimate moments of live action, and becoming absorbed into Gatsby’s world. ‘Theatrical audiences usually view the performance from the outside, but with The Great Gatsby at Castle Howard, the rooms themselves will become part of the story – this will be such an exciting experience for performers and audience alike,’ said Alexander Wright.
Castle Howard in North Yorkshire has a special affinity with the 1920s as the backdrop for two adaptations of Brideshead Revisited, but this is the first time it has hosted an immersive theatre. ‘It is important that the story feels appropriate for the setting, so we are absolutely thrilled to have this critically-acclaimed play as a highlight of our summer programme,’ said Nicholas Howard who runs Castle Howard. ‘I think it’s going to be a great way to experience one of the most evocative pieces of American literature in a beautiful and very fitting setting.’
Those attending the show are encouraged to embrace the period, with 1920s glamour very much encouraged; dancing shoes, sharp suits, pearls, trilby hats and spats.
The production allows the audience to interact with the characters and their world as narrator Nick Carraway tells the story of his neighbour Jay Gatsby, whose parties at his mansion are as lavish as his past is mysterious. Yet Gatsby cares only for one of his guests, his lost love Daisy Buchanan.
The Great Gatsby is directed by Alexander Wright (artistic director of The Flanagan Collective, an associate company at York Theatre Royal, and director of The Guild of Misrule) with choreography by Holly Beasley-Garrigan and sound design by Phil Grainger. The Great Gatsby will be performed over five evenings July 11th-15th.
For more information and to book tickets go to castlehoward.co.uk
