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

I have long treasured The Great Gatsby as one of my favorite pieces of literature, so I’m sure you can imagine my delight upon reading in a recent New York Times article that Gatsby is currently being presented in theatrical version at the Public Theater in New York City.

But it’s not quite pure theater.

“Gatz“, as it is called, is a seven hour performance piece presented by the Elevator Repair Service theater group through the end of November. It consists of a full reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and is “more a dramatization of the act of reading itself — of what happens when you immerse yourself in a book” than an actual reading or play.

“Gatz” begins with a man in an office who discovers a copy of this classic and begins to read as he waits for his computer to load. This man becomes more interested in the novel as the reading progresses. He begins to imitate character voices. Soon, other people in the office become involved in the reading, “becoming” Fitzgerald’s characters, taking on lines and personas.

The entire performance serves to represent what happens when you get lost in a book- “you hear it in your head, and it takes over your waking existence a little, so you can’t wait to be done with whatever you’re doing and immerse yourself in the pages again.” The performance is about imagination, about how one creates his own characters based on people in his life and on past personal experiences.

Some people may not see the appeal in sitting for seven hours in a theater, but personally, I think the idea of this performance is a fascinating one. It is an experience I do not plan on missing!