ongoing - Sun. Feb. 7

 "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

So ends F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby." Since it was written in 1925, this timeless tale of love and loss has become a staple in schools and a book that thousands turn to again and again. It is a human story and a super-human story and it is a book that few can put down once they start. Such is the premise of “GATZ,” a play that is being brought to the American Repertory Theater by the internationally-acclaimed company Elevator Repair Service (www.elevator.org)  through Sun. Feb. 7 at the Loeb Drama Center.

In this marathon six-hour performance (which is presented with two parts separated by a dinner interlude), a typical Everyman finds a copy of Fitzgerald’s masterwork in his office and, instead of using his time for company business, begins to read. As with so many readers of the story of the mysterious life of Jay Gatsby (ne Gatz), he cannot put it down. In fact, the more he reads, the more he sees how the lives in the book reflect those in the real world. The more he reads, the more the worlds of reality and fiction blend and the more is revealed in both.

Originally created by ERS in late 2004, “GATZ” has been performed around the world – from Chicago, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia to Dublin, Ireland and Sydney, Australia. Starring Wooster Group veteran Scott Shepherd (who will be appearing at Borders Books in Downtown Crossing on Tues. Jan. 12), and New York City Players’ Jim Fletcher at Mr. Gatsby/Gatz and Obie Award-winner Gary Wilmes as Tom, “GATZ” is directed by ERS founder John Collins.

“We first started to work with 'The Great Gatsby' in 1999,” Collins recalls, noting that, when he and his colleagues first began to work with the contemporary canon work, they had a “very different idea” about to stage the show. We didn't imagine we'd actually stage the entire book. Some characters, he said, were literally reduced to puppets in early productions. As the play developed, however, it grew to include the entire text.

“We knew we were interested in the writing,” Collins explains, “and we quickly found that some mysterious power in Fitzgerald's style was always compromised when we made abridgements.”

As the book is so beautiful and well-crafted, excising lines is detrimental. So, instead of robbing audiences (and themselves) of the glory and satisfaction of the entire book, ERS decided to leave it all in.

“The prose is so delicately and expertly constructed,” Collins suggests. ”that even the omission of  a single adjective is rhythmically disappointing.” By treating the novel as a novel instead of as a play, Collins and his talented team were able to make it “work in stage in its entirety.” Though Collins admits that this may have been a “thrillingly ridiculous idea,” it is one he is glad he pursued.

“[It] was an enticing ‘impossible’ task to work on,” he says, “and an exciting piece of non-theater material.” Partially inspired by the late and legendary comedian Andy Kaufman’s stage readings of  Gatsby, Collins was convinced that, though it may be “absurd,” the piece could “work” as theater.

A television version of the novel tied up the rights for a few years, and the project had to be set aside. When it was revived, Collins met with Shepherd and other actors in a cramped office above a small theater. “Working in that space,” he recalls, “is what gave us the idea that eventually became the frame story for ‘Gatz.’” Over the next two years, the play took shape, page by page and word by word. It premiered in 2006 in Brussels. Though it is a challenge for audiences and actors alike, Collins says that the play has proven worthwhiie for all involved.

“This project was developed with the actors,” he says, “so there was no point when I had to convince anybody to do it.” As most of the actors involved were also involved in the play’s creation, they had “bought in” from the beginning and wanted to see it through as much as Collins did.

As the story weaves between the world of the reader and the world of the read, “GATZ” involves the actors and the audience in ways that few other performances can. “Though the book is fully staged in many parts,” Collins explains, “the office and the physical book are always present….There's a constant ebb and flow of the full-realized staging and the image of a guy sitting in his office reading.”

As so many people who come and see the show can relate to it either because they are office workers or because they loved the book or both – it is even more affecting and effective and keeps audiences involved throughout the six-hour-long performance.

“The commitment to novel's rhythms and structure keep the play going,” Collins suggests. As the play offers a complete reading of Fitzgerald’s novel, it is a great take for fans of the book, people who want to experience it again or even for the first time. It might even be useful for students who want a fuller picture of what they may have read in class. And yet, as it is a complete reading, the play does not comment on the text as much as it presents it in an intriguing, involving way.

 “I'm not trying to say anything about it,” Collins says. “I'm just trying to say it. We don't mean to comment on the text, just put it out there. If we're commenting on anything it's on the act of reading and it's power over your perception of your real surroundings.”

Tickets are $25 - $75. The ART has also partnered with Upstairs on the Square (www.upstairsonthesquare.com) for a special $35 meal deal that will be prepared while the show is on so you do not miss a single line.

(Contributed by Matt Robinson)

Note from Jim at JSInk: After I wrote the headline here - Not for the Twitter Generation ...- the ART's ever-alert publicist Kati Mitchell noted you can actually sign up for GATZ on twitter at  www.Twitter.com/artgatz   That means you get the whole darn thing, 140 characters at a time. As of Jan. 6, they had 170 followers.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

OPTIONS

Saturday, January 23, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Sunday, January 24, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Wednesday, January 27, 7:30pm (Part 1 only)
Thursday, January 28, 7:30pm (Part 2 only)
Friday, January 29, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Saturday, January 30, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Sunday, January 31, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Tuesday, February 2, 7:30pm (Part 1 only)
Wednesday, February 3, 7:30pm (Part 2 only)
Friday, February 5, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Saturday, February 6, 3pm (Part 1), 7:30pm (Part 2)
Sunday, February 7, 3pm (Part 1, 7:30pm (Part 2)

64 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617- 547-8300 www.AmericanRepertoryTheater.org.