The Great Gatsby set to make return to the West End

The UK’s longest running production is set to make a return to the West End in October.

The Great Gatsby immersive performance will reopen at at West End venue IMMERSIVE | LDN on October 1.

Olivier Award-winning producers Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook have reimagined and reset the production as an art deco masquerade ball, with audience members wearing compulsory face coverings to complement their fabulous attire.

The show’s costume designer, Heledd Rees is to create a bespoke face covering that will be available to purchase at the venue with a portion of the proceeds going to The Theatre Artists Fund.

Reimagined from the famous novel and designed to meet covid guidelines, Jay Gatsby invites audiences to one of his infamous large parties.

A hedonistic world of red hot rhythms, bootleg liquor and pure jazz age self-indulgence is on the cards.

Audiences are encouraged to wear their masquerade and immerse themselves in this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal tale of the Roaring Twenties.

The capacity of the venue has been significantly reduced to help the audience keep a safe distance from others and the nature of the show means that audience members can choose where they stand and move throughout the performance.

The show content is being altered and updated to avoid any activity that would be considered high risk, and the actors will be further trained to keep groups of audience following the story, whilst remaining at a safe distance.

Temperature checks will be undertaken for the audience and staff on arrival.

The venue will be deep cleaned before and after every performance, bar equipment sterilised, and hand sanitisers will be available throughout the venue.

The show’s producers are still planning for the eventuality that the show can’t proceed, or individual patrons can’t attend, and are offering a no-questions-asked exchange policy.

Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook said: “We’re delighted The Great Gatsby is returning to its London home.

“We’re deeply proud of the team who have worked so skilfully and passionately with input from the Culture Task Force, Equity, and Westminster to welcome back our audiences and restore some of the cultural offering in London that has been missing for far too long.

“We are really excited to welcome folks back to Gatsby’s mansion in a responsible and measured way, and to be one of the first shows in the West End that is able to reopen its doors to fans.

“At IMMERSIVE|LDN we will always lead the way with innovation, and we’re hoping this can be a blueprint to help our other productions around the world begin to open.

“We’ve definitely missed telling this beautiful story each night. It has been a joy to bring back some of the original creators of Gatsby after half a decade to revisit revive and augment the production with new scenes and new choreography that should be exciting for fans old and new.