THE GREAT GATSBY - A Live Radio Play

Some years ago, I was honoured to be in conversation with Kay Mellor, the late lamented writer. I asked her what got her started on a screenplay and she told me that when she had started her writing career, she wrote about things she knew. The author of 'The Great Gatsby', F. Scott Fitzgertald, must have been of same opinion. His early life was hard and he was determined to get out and get famous as a writer. The Great Gatsby was very successful for him and the character of Jay Gatsby was similar to his own life,

The book was very successful and has been adapted for stage and screen many times over the years. This adaption, by Joe Landry, with musical score by Kevin Connors, is different and refreshing. At first, I found the concept a little confusing - but it became clear as the evening progressed. The setting was a 1940's radio station, WBFR, in New York. It has to be remembered that with no television or social media in those days, families would cluster round the radio for entertainment. The drama presented this evening was a live performance of 'The Great Gatsby'. The actors taking part would have been famous at the time, mostly Hollywood or Broadway stars, so the listening public would have been in eager anticipation of the performance! 

Cosmopolitan Playerrs re-created this concept very well. The small Studio Theatre was perfect for the setting of a radio station - Chairs were placed in a semi-circle, with bits of 1920's costume around them. Probably no additional props would have been needed for a real radio play, but for the benefit of the audience it added authenticity. To avoid confusion the 1940's actors were as follows; Tony Hunter, Jake Laurents, Freddie Filmore, Nelson North, Sally Applewhite and Lana Sherwood - all good theatrical names! They began getting themselves ready in preparation for the performance. The Foley Artist was at a large table with a variety of props for the sound effects. I loved the idea of the 'Applause' sign, reminding the audience when to do just that!

If you know the story of 'The Great Gatsby', this would have been easy for you to follow - regrettably, I was not up to speed with this, but I did get the gist of it all after a while. In the book, as in the play, the narrator was Nick Carraway, a friend of Gatsby. This very wordy part was played by Matt Hills. It became clear that Gatsby had made a fortune in bonds to impress the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, played by Emma McGrath. She had married someone else when Gatsby was abroad, fighting in World War 1. The theme of the play centred on money and social status, in the period following the Great War - the Jazz Age. Gatsby, played by Jason Curia, owned a magnificent house and hosted wild parties. Another 'femme fatale' was Jordan Baker, played by Louise Thatcher, she was always trying to move in on Gatsby, but he wasn't interested. Richard Hunt played Tom Buchanan, Daisy's Husband - he was a snob and hated Gatsby. James Hart played George Wilson, a garage owner - he kills Gatsby in a frenzy, as he believes Gatsby has killed his wife in a motor accident.

As in all good plays, there were more twists and turns which would take up too much space here. Suffice to say, these actors worked incredibly hard, most playing more than one role. I particularly liked the banter between them 'off microphone' - all the actors were experienced and this showed in their performances. I suppose the star of the evening was Gillian Myers as the Foley Artist. She had provided all the sound effects and did a very good job - even if she was constantly upbraided by the cast for getting things wrong - they were all divas!  I also loved the inclusion of the sponsors' advertisements - the Americans always had a break off from their dramas to plug products - in this case, T.J.Eckleburg, Fashion Design Spectacle Frames and The Green Light Automobile Service Company - most amusing and so of the period!

I have always admired Cosmopolitan Players for presenting new and refreshing plays for their audiences. This production was no exception.

The director responsible for all this was Leah Curia, her debut production for COS. She should be congratulated for the smoothness and integrity of the play and her staging was very praiseworthy, ably assisted by Rueben Foyle; Authentic 1940's costumes were by Jasmine Fewster; Technical, Glynn Pringle, a stalwart of amateur theatre and music recorded by the very talented, Danny Gmble, (Special thanks also to Tina Nutt for her assistance).

Many congratulations to you all and I hope we see Cosmopolitan Players in other unusual and entertaining productions in the future.

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