ACTRESS Miranda Manasiadis calls herself a “book geek” and read The Great Gatsby when she was 17.
“The last paragraph just left me sobbing and sobbing – I was surviving those heightened teenage emotions, and it was such a tragedy,” Manasiadis says.
Ken Duncum, the 2010 New Zealand Post Mansfield Prize winner, has adapted F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel for the stage, and Miranda Manasiadis and Nathan Meister have been cast as Daisy and Gatsby.
Nathan Meister hadn’t read The Great Gatsby until after he was chosen for the role.
“Because I knew who the cast was first, I saw all their faces while reading the book, and Ray Henwood’s voice floated around in my head,” laughs Meister.
Ray Henwood narrates the play as the old Nick Carraway.
The Great Gatsby chronicles American society after World War One, and the self-indulgences that lead the book’s characters towards a Greek Tragedy rather than the American Dream.
“The book is a good example of ‘if you want it, you can get it. It did really poorly when it was written, but it resonated with people when they saw what they lost after WWII,’” says Meister.
The Roaring Twenties was an age of decadence, Jazz, and clashing ideologies, and with alcohol banned, people like Gatsby’s character made millions of out bootlegging.
Manasiadis says indulgence in Western countries, like binge drinking in New Zealand, makes the play relevant today.
“Every New Zealander I know gets rip-roaring drunk before dinner – I’d say our drinking is well above the bar”.
Manasiadis recently returned to Wellington after living in America, and says the United States is still an overindulgent society.
“In Los Angeles everyone eats organic food but doesn’t recycle – they are great at preserving their bodies but not the environment,” she laughs. “In LA they all use drying machines in a warm climate, and in New York I took my cell phone to get fixed and they all laughed at me – over there; if you want it, you get it, brand new.”
She has come home to raise her first born, who is 20 months-old, and says the play’s demanding dance scenes are working well as a post-natal fitness class.
 “Dancing and singing everyday has been more physical than I first expected – Jazz is the devil’s song; it demands you get off your feet,” says Manasiadis.
Before rehearsals started both Manasiadis and Meister considered themselves quality dancers, but the intensity of the routines are taking a toll.
 “The dancing from the 1920s was really about letting go. The Charleston is the most known step from that time and I have found it really hard to get the hang of it,” he says.  “My wife hoped I would become more optimistic and romantic in this role, but I’ve just been buggered at the end of the day,” he laughs.
Both say raising children and dancing is enough debauchery, but they do want to audience to get in the spirit.
“We are having a Flappers and Mobsters night, and we hope the audience will outdo us,” says Meister.
The Great Gatsby, Circa Theatre, July 31 – August 28