REVIEW: The Great Gatsby | The Wardrobe Ensemble and The Wardrobe Theatre

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reviews, Theatre

Aug 6-30 | On Demand | Fringe Player | Get Tickets

If you told me that the complete story of The Great Gatsby could be told in an hour and forty minutes with only 2 people working in a small studio with red cups for props, a sofa for seating and a couple of flats for set, I’d tell you it was madness, that it couldn’t possibly be done, you must be off your rocker! But this production is breathtaking!

It is the combination of incredibly astute direction from Tom Brennan and an in-depth knowledge of how to play multiple characters in a way that is so clearly distinguishable the audience in constant complete understanding of the action which makes this show so stand out.

Tamsin Hurtado Clarke and Jesse Meadows carry this show, providing slick timing and intricate attention to detail, it’s genuinely some of the best acting I’ve seen in years.

I could gush about this show all day all guise of professionality flying out the window making way for total adoration, but basically go and get tickets… now! And later in the year, it’ll be touring so if you can get yourself to Bristol, Newbury, Plymouth, or Oxford, make the effort! You won’t be disappointed.

The Arts Business Top Tips:

  • A huge shout out needs to be given to the design and technical team of this show. Its brilliance lies in its appearance of simplicity. There may be a small amount of physical stuff making this show easy to tour to a variety of venues but there is real finesse in the way it’s used to offset the action. Everyone involved in this production should be immensely proud of what they’ve worked together to create.
  • It is superbly filmed! Often theatre loses a little something when it’s cinematised but here it has been cleverly thought about how to enhance the production rather than just filming it out of necessity so it can be seen by people during the pandemic.