VOA标准英语2010年-Great American Novel Gets Unique Stage

When the audience walks into the Public Theater, the set onstage doesn't even vaguely¹ evoke² the jazz age of the 1920s in which F. Scott Fitzgerald set his story. It's the drabbest office imaginable; grey walls, beat-up furniture, an ancient computer, a manual typewriter. As the play begins, a man in a blue shirt walks in and tries to turn on that computer, several times, unsuccessfully. Then, with a shrug³, he pulls out a paperback⁴ copy of "The Great Gatsby" and starts reading it, aloud.

And for the next six and a half hours - plus two intermissions and a dinner break - the audience is transported into the world of "The Great Gatsby," as all the workers in this mysterious office bring the novel to vivid life. And, somehow, over the course of the play, that guy in the blue shirt becomes Nick Carraway, the narrator of the book, friend and confidant to self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby. The show is called "Gatz" and when New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley saw it in Cambridge, Massachusetts earlier this year, he called it improbable and exciting.

 "It doesn't sound like innately⁵ dramatic material, does it? Reading, one thinks of as a passive activity," said Brantley. "But this is a truly dynamic work. And it somehow finds a theatrical⁶ form for the very private act of reading."

For the past 19 years, John Collins has directed every production of the experimental theater group, Elevator Repair Service. He says creating theater out of the improbable is a fundamental part of their mission.

"We like things that give us some sort of problem to solve. And that eventually became a kind of obsession⁷ with doing things that were wrong for the theater. You know, we liked material that didn't present any kind of obvious way to become a play."

When one of their company members suggested adapting "The Great Gatsby," Fitzgerald's keen-eyed look at the American dream and its flip⁸ side, they leapt at the chance. As they started exploring ways to bring the novel to life, rehearsing in a dingy⁹ office in downtown Manhattan, a lot like the one onstage.

"There was a certain resonance¹⁰ in a dumpy little office. I mean, Nick, in the book, has a kind of humble¹¹ job as a bond salesman and talks about how he doesn't make much money," says Collins. "It had resonance with the book, but it also was just, for me, a kind of mysterious canvas on which to project the book."

So, as the guy in the blue shirt reads the novel, office workers drift in and out, doing their tasks - delivering memos¹², picking up mail - and they begin to subtly resemble the characters in the novel. Somewhere in the first 20 minutes, the worker who becomes Tom Buchanan blurts¹³ out a line of dialogue. And before you know it, scenes from "The Great Gatsby," like the drunken party in Myrtle Wilson's love nest, are happening in the middle of the office, with paper and plastic cups flying everywhere.

Collins had never read the novel before he directed the show.

"I was surprised at how contemporary it felt, and I was surprised at, you know, how efficient, yet lyrical it was. You know, it was like a perfect poem. I remember thinking that every word felt necessary."

And so the decision was made, early on, to use every word. Scott Shepherd, as the narrator, says most of them.

"I've never run a marathon but maybe it's kind of a similar thing. I mean, what it is, is it's too big, too long to hold in your head at once or to even really conceive of or think about or prepare for," says Shepherd. "At least, I don't know how to prepare for it. But, all I know how to do is to go out there and open the book and start."

By the final hour of the play, the book has been set aside and Scott Shepherd is Nick.

"Gatz" is playing at New York's Public Theater through November 28.
 

1 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

2 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

3 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

4 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

5 innately   

adv.天赋地；内在地，固有地

参考例句：

• Innately conservative, Confucius was fascinated by the last of these disciplines. 由于生性保守，孔子特别推崇“礼”。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Different individuals are innately fitted for different kinds of employment. 不同的人适合不同的职业，这是天生的。 来自互联网

6 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

7 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

8 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

9 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

10 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

11 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

12 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

13 blurts   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He blurts out all he hears. 他漏嘴说出了他听到的一切。 来自辞典例句
• If a user blurts out an interesting idea, ask "What problem would that solve for you?" 如果用户不假思索地冒出一个有趣的想法，则询问他：“这可以解决哪些问题？” 来自互联网