Next Monday, September 18, Word for Word Performing Arts Company will perform a reading of the first chapter of The Great Gatsby for juniors during their English period at the Eagle Theater.
American Literature teachers Bianca Aguirre and Sasha Kassel organized the event, where the San Francisco-based theater company hopes to bring prose to life through their trademark verbatim performances of literary excerpts.
“I think it’s going to be really powerful for our students to see it performed, especially with writing that is as beautiful and lyrical as The Great Gatsby,” American Literature teacher Cathy Dao said. “It’s going to be a different way of understanding the text, which I think is going to be really special.”
This is the first year that this event is happening at Los Altos High School. Word for Word also performed The Quince by Octavio Solis this spring for the English Department’s Writers Week, which aimed to highlight diverse literature.
Word for Word employs choral readings and a mesh of play and prose to showcase their stories. They incorporate their play-like delivery of dialogue with narration; often, an actor will turn to the audience to add a “…they said,” adding authenticity and keeping true to the company’s name.
