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This faithful adaptation of Fitzgerald’s great American novel boasts ambiently enchanting set design, mirroring the stirring poignancy of Fitzgerald’s narrative.

“‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ [Daisy] sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.’” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” The Montana Repertory Theater Company will perform “The Great Gatsby” April 8 at the Scranton Cultural Center.

“I stared at [Wilson] and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before — and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” The Montana Repertory Theater Company will perform “The Great Gatsby” April 8 at the Scranton Cultural Center.

“[Tom] reached up on tiptoes and peered over a circle of heads into the garage, which was lit only by a yellow light in a swinging wire basket overhead. Then he made a harsh sound in his throat, and with a violent thrusting movement of his powerful arms pushed his way through.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” The Montana Repertory Theater Company will perform “The Great Gatsby” April 8 at the Scranton Cultural Center.

SCRANTON – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” occupies the hearts and bookshelves of countless individuals abating that sordid sense of lovelessness and solitude so aptly plaguing the lives of the novel’s cast of characters. Skirts rise with the temperature in the sultry summer streets of 1922 Long Island. Yet, as the curtain falls, so do “Gatsby’s” heroes.

Montana Repertory Theatre Company, a touring theatrical troupe based in — you guessed it — Montana, slinks into the Scranton Cultural Center at 8 p.m. Friday, April 10. The stage adaptation of “Gatsby” is penned by Simon Levy, whose fidelity to his source material finely foils that of the novel’s central married duo, Tom & Daisy Buchanan.

“[Levy’s] adaptation doesn’t re-invent the novel,” said Mark Kuntz, who plays Jay Gatsby. “It’s a very faithful adaptation of the novel. Though you want to preserve a lot of Fitzgerald’s beautiful prose, however, you also want to move the action forward. Thus, the plot moves forward through a series of flashbacks, narrated by Nick Carraway.”

“Both Nick and Jordan Baker address the audience often in order to shed light on the back stories of these characters,” said Amber Mason, who plays Jordan Baker. “Nick definitely carries the show narratively, but Jordan helps portray Daisy’s character and narrates her actions, explaining to the audience why Daisy acts the way she does. Jordan and Daisy grew up together, so it is fitting that Jordan serves as the person who can help illustrate Daisy’s intentions.”

“The narration allows Jay and Daisy to play out the action while Jordan and Nick advance the plot,” Kuntz said.

“The Great Gatsby” is a period piece, evocative of a different time in American culture — a bygone era. Replicating this time period required the actors to change their speech and mannerisms.

“We speak in, what I guess you can call, a trans-Atlantic speech pattern,” Mason said. ‘Trans-Atlantic’ here refers to the mid-Atlantic corridor of the United States, including Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

“There is a fair influence of British, upper class speech in there. However, Jordan and Daisy come from Louisville, Kentucky, so there’s a little bit of southern in there as well,” Mason said.

Many adaptations of “The Great Gatsby” exist in popular culture — most recently Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film — though Kuntz assures this adaptation offers an entirely unique and lively staging of the novel.

“Personally, I looked at all of the different interpretations of the story equally,” Kuntz said. “I didn’t take much from them, though. I pulled much of my understanding of Jay Gatsby from both Fitzgerald’s novel and Levy’s stage adaptation. Gatsby’s not as elusive as we think he is. He’s very much like all of us—he’s an American, he’s an American story. He worked really hard, he wants things really bad, he loves hard, he strives for his dreams harder than anything else and, most of all, he lives on hope.”

“Gatsby” marks the first touring theatrical drama to hit the main stage of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Theatre in 10 years, according to the Scranton Cultural Center. Tickets can be purchased at the Fidelity Bank box office at the SCC or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.sccmt.org or call (570) 344-1111.