The Not-So-Great Gatsby

With Bryan Starchman

What fascinated me most about adapting this story was how perfectly F. Scott Fitzgerald's themes of wealth, identity, and the American Dream translate to modern teenage life. The desire to reinvent oneself, the pressure to maintain appearances, the gap between who we are and who we pretend to be - these are as relevant to today's teenagers as they were to Fitzgerald's Jazz Age socialites. This show maintains the core elements: the mysterious wealthy neighbor, the green light of hope, the watchful eyes, and the clash between old money and new. But instead of bootlegging, we have cryptocurrency. And instead of the roaring twenties, we have the digital age, where appearance and reality are just as disconnected as they were in Gatsby's world. Some changes were necessary, of course. Others were just fun. Nick Carraway became Nick Coriander, Jordan Baker became Kobe Baker, Daisy Fay is now Violet Fay, and our green light is now the glow of a flickering stage light. But this is still a story about the gap between dreams and reality, about the stories we tell ourselves and others, and about the sometimes destructive power of holding onto the past. While this adaptation takes considerable comedic liberties with Fitzgerald's text, it strives to honor the spirit of the original work while making it accessible and entertaining for audiences. My hope is that this play will not only entertain but might also inspire students to explore Fitzgerald's novel with fresh eyes, recognizing how its themes continue to resonate in our world.