Elevator Repair Service, an avant-garde theater company from Philadelphia, is visiting the MCA to put on their nearly 8 hour "Gatz", the group's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic Jazz Age novel, "The Great Gatsby". Set in a shabby office, this is a verbatim regurgitation of the novel in its entirety, as played out by "The Office"-type stock characters. There are drawbacks of course to this setup, given that even the most mundane sections of the great novel are read/played out. However, there are stretches of transcendence: the sequence in which Gatsby and Daisey reconnect is pure theatrical magic, and the final act seethes with profound melancholy, hauntingly revealing the beauty and meaning in Fitzgerald's achingly lyrical prose.Rating: ***1/2 (out of *****)
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