The Leader headed to Gatsby's finest party held at The Dolphin Inn hotel in Mold, for a theatrical immersion brought by Theatr Clwyd. 

From page to stage, this performance is truly a revitalised version of the much-loved American classic, The Great Gatsby. 

Immediately, guests are immersed in the world of 1920s New York glamour from the moment they enter the dilapidated building. The bar staff offer a choice of wine leaving them to soak up the atmosphere and feel transported back in time. 

The Leader:

The dimly lit drawing room and oak-paneled bar reflects the authenticity of the time period beautifully. The room was filled with glamorous knee-length dresses, bright flappers and the sounds of jazz. 

The narrator Nick Carraway, played by the brilliantly talented Jack Hammett, catches the attention of the audience and brings the famous lines and imagery from the novel to life that all literature fanatics know and love. 

Guests are approached by Nick and Daisy, played by Bethan Young, as beautiful and eloquent as described on page, who ask the crowd to follow them into the main function room. Instead of being led to theatre seats, the audience is taken into a function room with an old piano and expensive decor where the party is being held for the evening. There, guests are taught how to do the Charlston as part of a group number to break the ice. 

Throughout the performance, members of the audience are subtly picked off and led into another room, cornered into an awkwardly intimate scene separate from the main event. This is what provides a brilliantly unique experience and different combinations of the show for every guest. 

The Leader:

Narrator Nick Carraway is given a more central and active role within the show, being highly observational in the book. His charm shines through his frequent interactions with the audience as he introduces other characters and develops the plot. He remains as much in the dark as anyone as the crowd pieces the narrative together.

The fourth wall isn't just broken, it's smashed, and audience members can exist in a world that they have absolutely no control over. Jordan, played by Seren Vickers, brings the life and soul to the party, perhaps being the most eye-catching presence in the whole production. 

And yet the whole cast ought to be commended for their tremendous efforts, commitment and undeniable talent, particularly their instincts and timing for such a complex style of play. They convey the layered emotions found in the novel wonderfully, while perfecting the unrehearsed interactions and intimacies between themselves and audience, making it difficult to know who was a professional and who was a spectator. 

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Jay Gatsby charmed his way through the crowd as he tried to woo his young love, Daisy. Richard McIver’s charisma meant that his character appeared more desirable than that in the novel as he allowed the audience to dress him in a pink three-piece suit. 

The heated tension between Gatsby, his lover Daisy and her husband Tom played by the brilliant Troy Marcus Richards, was as uncomfortable as the encouraged eavesdropping. Siobhan Beven’s bittersweet depiction of Myrtle infatuated with her husband George, played by Huw Blainey, was also beyond compelling. It made her tragic death all the more heartbreaking to witness.

Theatr Clwyd has scheduled 72 performances for this summer with a maximum capacity of 90 people per production. 

This is one for the jazz heads and classic story lovers.