Explainer: Why are we getting so many productions of 'The Great Gatsby'?

Following recent hit stage versions, Regé-Jean Page is bringing us a new West End adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's enduring work.

Summary

• The Great Gatsby is coming to the West End in a new adaptation
• Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page looks set to play Gatsby
• F. Scott Fitzgerald's work has been frequently adapted for the stage
• Artists love its vivid characters and setting and pertinent themes

Are we about to see none other than Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page bring his smouldering charisma to The Great Gatsby? In exciting news, Page has signed on to be a producer of a new West End adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal novel, adapted by Joel Horwood and Maria Aberg, and directed by Michael Longhurst.

It would be a thrilling return to the stage for Page, who last tread the boards here in 2015 in the Shakespeare’s Globe production of The Merchant of Venice, and has since become a Hollywood star. Page told Deadline that Gatsby is a story “incredibly close to my heart”, and teased that this new adaptation would be “electric, glamorous, deeply romantic, utterly heartbreaking”, and offer insight that “couldn’t be more relevant” to our tumultuous times.

Of course, this is far from the only version of Gatsby that we’ve seen recently, so just why does Fitzgerald’s indelible tale hold such fascination for artists and audiences alike?

It’s a great love story

At the heart of the novel is the doomed romance between socialite Daisy Buchanan and the title character, the elusive Jay Gatsby, who has turned himself into a dapper millionaire and hosts outlandish parties at his Long Island mansion – all to appeal to the one that got away. Alas, Daisy is now unhappily married to Tom Buchanan.

Although there is plenty of complexity to this relationship, with Fitzgerald closely attuned to their various character flaws, the chemistry between Gatsby and Daisy is a palpable force which transcends the years. You don’t have to know much about the context of Fitzgerald’s novel to understand their desperate yearning.

It powered recent productions such as the popular West End musical, which ran at the London Coliseum in 2025 starring Jamie Muscato and Frances Mayli McCann. Real-life couple Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada are now leading show on Broadway, adding an extra layer of romance.

There is also a parallel fascination with Fitzgerald himself and his turbulent marriage to Zelda Fitzgerald, as explored recently in new musical Beautiful Little Fool at Southwark Playhouse. Such larger-than-life, dramatic unions are made for the stage.

It has a glamorous setting

We just can’t resist a Roaring Twenties party, and Gatsby’s parties are legendary. Stage productions get to revel in all of that Jazz Age finery, from playboy and flapper fashion to Art Deco designs, vintage cars, and champagne and bootleg liquor. It’s a simply fabulous setting.

That was definitely the case in the recent West End musical, gloriously decked out by production designer Paul Tate DePoo III and costume designer Linda Cho. Gatsby’s wildly over-the-top hosting – extravagant even for the era – is key to the plot, but also a delight to see fully realised on stage.

Add to that the opportunity to bring in jazz-inflected songs, especially if the adaptation is a musical, and energetic, slinky dancing, and there is an inherent entertainment value in any stage Gatsby that is pretty irresistible.

It has deeply resonant themes

As Page noted, Fitzgerald’s work has plenty of profound ideas beneath its sleek surface, many of which feel pertinent to our current times. Principally, there is his critique of the class system: the story strictly delineates the old money characters, Tom and Daisy, from the nouveau riche Gatsby, and the working-class mechanic George Wilson and his wife Myrtle – the latter having an affair with Tom.

The story also examines the gendered double standards in marriage, with Tom able to act much more freely than Daisy, while golf champion Jordan Baker pushes against entrenched gender stereotypes. Some of those elements were expanded on in the recent musical version. Various adaptations have additionally viewed the characters of Jordan and Nick through a queer lens.

There are also discussions in the novel around race, with Tom claiming racial superiority and railing against immigration and a changing America. Sadly, such sentiments are not confined to Fitzgerald’s era, and the fraught debate around what America means and who belongs there is just as pertinent as ever.

These are vivid characters to play

No wonder actors are still eager to inhabit Fitzgerald’s world. The self-made Jay Gatsby is a curious enigma, with his mysterious background and tendency to mythologise. Although his love for Daisy is always a clear motivator, other elements, such as his murky financial dealings and various outlandish claims, make him remarkably complex. He might present like the all-American golden boy, but there is much more to him.

Daisy, likewise, is a meaty part for an actress to savour. In some respects she’s a shallow, proud snob, who prizes money and status, yet she is also limited in her choices as the trophy wife of a controlling man. That makes her dilemma over whether or not to reunite with Gatsby a really interesting one to play.

The story is teeming with fantastic characters, in fact, from our narrator figure, the gradually disillusioned Nick Carraway, to the loathsome Tom, fast-talking Jordan, fiery Myrtle, and wrathful George. Not to mention a teeming ensemble of flappers and gangsters.

It will be a treat to see Page give us his take on Gatsby, and to find out who else might join him for the latest stage adaptation of this eternally beloved tale.

Photo credit: The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum (Photos by Johan Persson)