Queensland Theatre Company and Shake & Stir Theatre Co finally joining forces for The Great Gatsby feels a bit like pairing really good cheese with a seriously great wine. On paper, it makes perfect sense, but the best combinations take time. In this case, about twenty years.
Gatsby is their first official collaboration, with Daniel Evans and Nelle Lee shaping the adaptation and Evans directing alongside Nick Skubij. The end product of their labour is a hundred-year-old story that feels like it was written yesterday.
You can taste both companies in it from the opening moments. Queensland Theatre provides the sturdy backbone of story, Shake & Stir splash in the theatrical flair, and together they have uncorked something rich, layered and just a little intoxicating.
They’ve turned a classic into a pulse-racing theatrical event!
Before we deep-dive, let’s start with a confession: I went into opening night completely blind. I’m not much of a reader, and due to outright stubbornness, I’ve never seen the film – although I got close.
When it premiered, a few of us from Uni decided we absolutely had to be there. So, we drove from Brisbane to Sydney, fuelled by caffeine and confidence, convinced we were about to become serious documentary filmmakers overnight. We somehow talked our way onto the red carpet.
I still don’t really know how, but one minute we were standing behind barricades, the next we were holding a microphone in front of Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton, trying to sound composed.
And then we didn’t get into the movie. Not on the list. No seats. Thanks for coming. Evidently, I hold a grudge.
So, this was it. My first Gatsby. No comparison points. No Luhrmann glitter haze. Just a theatre lover, more than 200 reviews in, finally meeting one of literature’s great cautionary tales for the first time.
The adaptation doesn’t muck around. It gets in, tells the story, and trusts the audience to keep up. There is no flowery detour just to remind you it started life as a novel. Instead, it leans straight into the stuff that still stings a hundred years later.
The class divide is brutal and obvious. The expectations placed on women feel tight and airless. Everyone is making choices in a world that seems to reward the worst instincts. It is bold, muscular storytelling, dropped in champagne and rolled in glitter.
What Evans and Skubij really nail in their direction is control, but the relaxed kind. The show feels carefully guided without ever feeling locked in or over-rehearsed. No one is wandering around just to fill space. When someone crosses the stage, it matters. When there is a pause, you feel it. The pace stays steady, and if it slows down, it is because it is meant to. You are never checking your watch or wondering where it is headed. It just carries you with it.
And the result is a Gatsby that does not feel dusty or distant. It feels awake, renewed, and dangerously close to home.
Turning inwards, it is Christina Smith’s set and costume design that quietly steals the show. The costumes are undeniably stunning and have that unmistakable 1920s sparkle without ever feeling like dress-ups. There are constant changes, and not a single one looks rushed or thrown together.
The set itself does a lot of heavy lifting. When the story leans into wealth and status, the stage opens up and feels almost intimidating in its size. Then the sidewalls slide in like the iris of a camera, and suddenly everything tightens. Conversations feel closer, more exposed. It’s a simple idea, but it works beautifully.
For the party scenes, Smith pulls off something clever. They feel big and decadent without needing endless props or spectacle. It is suggestion, lighting and movement doing most of the work. No blockbuster film budget required, just smart theatre making.
As for the cast, I genuinely don’t know where to start. They work as a collective organism. A single pulsing heart driving the narrative forward. It feels unfair to isolate them, yet credit is due.
With five lead debutants for Queensland Theatre, you might expect a touch of tentativeness. Instead, Ryan Hodson as Nick Carraway anchors the story with quiet clarity. Jess Vickers’ Daisy Buchanan balances fragility and calculation in ways that keep you guessing.
Shiv Palekar’s Jay Gatsby is earnest and obsessive, never drifting into caricature. Ethan Lwin brings a heartbreaking vulnerability to George Wilson. And Loren Hunter, as Catherine and Mint Julep, blows you away with her striking vocals that have cemented her as one of Australia’s musical theatre queens.
Donné Ngabo, in only his second mainstage outing for Queensland Theatre following his excellent turn in A Few Good Men, continues to prove himself as one to watch. Libby Munro, Rachel Nutchey, Jeremiah Wray and Nelle Lee round out the ensemble with grit and sparkle in equal measure.
Being opening night, though, there were a few jitters. A couple of stumbled lines. A microphone not switched on in time. At one point, a costume malfunction left poor Libby Munro navigating an entire scene while subtly holding her top in place like the consummate professional she is. None of it derailed the evening.
After the final curtain, we wandered over to the 1920s-themed after party at Soleil, where we asked Daniel Evans how it felt to tackle such an iconic, beloved text. His answer was simple. “Terrifyinggggg.” All five g’s hanging there for dear life.
It is safe to say, though, that sometimes you have to lean into that fear. And to borrow a line from Poppa Henry in the 2015 Pixar classic, The Good Dinosaur, “Sometimes you have to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.”
And beautiful it was.
The Great Gatsby is presented by Queensland Theatre Company and Shake & Stir Theatre Co and runs to 8 March at the Playhouse, QPAC.
Tickets: https://qpac.n.qtix.com.au/tickets/series/qtgreatgatsby26
Website: https://queenslandtheatre.com.au/plays/the-great-gatsby
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/qldtheatreco/ and https://www.instagram.com/shakeandstir/
Photo credits: Joel Devereux
