Keeping up with the Buchanan's: The Great Gatsby review

In a secret location near London Bridge, Jay Gatsby held one if his decadent and hedonistic prohibition parties. And we were all invited.

Immersive theatre makes me both squeal with excitement and snort in derision. I just imagine it being overrun by obnoxious, overbearing drama school types or it being so conceptual, it completely misses the point.

But with a show billed as a night at Gatsby's where dressing up as a flapper is encouraged, the only way is up.

The problem with The Great Gatsby is it's difficult to translate on screen... more about that later. And keeping true to the book on stage would turn it into a hectic mess. This version of the 1920s classic was nothing short of brilliant.

The acting was spot on. The constant interaction with the tiny crowd in a disused warehouse made each of the characters likable.

They took artistic license with the storyline, so it could all revolve around a party at Gatsby's. I was delighted to see the crowd of an even mix make an effort and the attention to detail with the decor turned the evening into an event.

Mucho respect to the cast, who had to dance, sing, run from room to room, work the crowd and get everyone involved. I can't imagine the stamina needed to do that night after night.

It would be perfect for a date night, hen do or just a night out with friends. If you love a Gin Rickey, jazz, Charleston and drama. This is the production for you.

Now, onto The Great Gatsby, the book. It's hailed as a classic. It's studied and revered, but - controversially - I think it's a terrible bit of literature, which is why filmmakers struggle with it.

If it wasn't for the glamour of the Bright Young Things of post-war, pre-depression America, this book would be regarded in the same veins as Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

It's all about the empty, vacuous lives of rich people who didn't earn it. It follows the self-involved dramas of truly terrible people.

Daisy fell in love with a soldier who looked at her like every girl wants to be looked at. Instead of proclamations of love and vows to wait until he's home, she ran down the aisle of the incredibly wealthy Tom Buchanan. And when said man moves heaven and earth to be worthy of her, she shuns him for the arrogant and oafish Tom.

Tom gloats so much about his money and status, he must have a micro-penis. He's a prized twat who wants everything for himself but treats it all with contempt.

Jordan Baker has a coldness I admire. And she's the only one with a talent, even if it is golf. Her romantic ideology of the Jay/Daisy affair showed her up to be lonely and the stand-offishness is just armor. She finally puts herself out there with Nick Caraway, but is spurned. However, she was leaching off her best friends. And despite being complicit in the affair, she never gave advice or an alternative. Presumably, she wasn't aware of her friend's thoughts and feelings, so just lived vicariously through her.

I'm not surprised Jordan fell for Nick, he too was a dreamer, swept up in a fantasy. He was complicit to the affair and also took a backseat when it came to offering an alternative. His admiration of Gatsby's luck to become something out of nothing showed him to be someone who valued money above everything else and saw this as an indication of worth.

All of them, all of America, are vulgar in their money. It didn't buy them class but made them sick people. A person who always gets what they want regardless of who they hurt. It all sounds like the Kim and Kanye story.