From the Dramatists Website:

THE STORY: Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, passionately pursues the elusive Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, a young newcomer to Long Island, is drawn into their world of obsession, greed and danger. The breathtaking glamour and decadent excess of the Jazz Age come to the stage in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, and in Simon Levy’s adaptation, approved by the Fitzgerald Estate.

“Playwright Simon Levy does a beautiful job of distilling Fitzgerald’s sometimes fussy prose. Levy’s combination of narration, dialogue and action delivers most of what is best in the novel…a brilliant distillation.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

“A clean, imaginative and sometimes surreal work.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune.

“By the end of the evening, there was a longing to see it again. And then again…This adaptation by Simon Levy clearly understood that Fitzgerald’s words are sacred and can’t be improved upon. What was added, deleted or changed to adapt the story to the stage was so faithful to Fitzgerald that it became seamless…Expectations were far exceeded.” —Arizona Daily Star.

“Somewhere out there, Jay Gatsby is smiling one of those enigmatic smiles, with everything and nothing behind it. 'Yes, old sport,' Gatsby is saying, 'that’s about right. That’s about right.' Surely, that smiling sign of approval would be Gatsby’s suitably understated take on Simon Levy’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby…a beautifully crafted interpretation of the 1925 novel which defined the Jazz Age…This is indeed a grand GATSBY.” —London Free Press.

“Sweeping…excellent…Levy’s adaptation wisely anchors itself around the first-person account of narrator Nick Carraway…a satisfying conclusion…affecting.” —Variety.

The Delaware Hayes Thespian Troupe is a group of student thespians who attend or live in the Delaware City School District. Most of our students attend Rutherford B. Hayes High School, though some of our students attend the Delaware Area Career Center, attend Post Secondary or College Credit Plus Classes, or are home schooled within the district. 

Rutherford B. Hayes High School has a history dating back to at least 1973 of performing high quality theatre productions all of which were staged in the Willis Auditorium until the new auditorium was added to the high school in 1997. The complete list of past musical productions can be found in our annual spring musical program, however in the last 10 years it includes fabulous productions such as:

2009 Fiddler on the Roof
2010 Guys and Dolls
2011 The Phantom of the Opera
2012 Legally Blonde: The Musical
2013 Hello, Dolly!
2014 Anything Goes
2014 You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
2015 Footloose
2016 Les Miserables
2017 Damn Yankees!
2018 Shrek The Musical
2019 Mary Poppins
2020* Chicago High School Edition
2021* Little Women
2022 Bye Bye Birdie
2023 The Spongebob Musical

*Chicago High School Edition and Little Women were not staged in front of a live audience due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Alternative performance types were used for these productions. 

The Hayes Thespians also perform one fall play every year that takes place around the month of October. Our typical season involves a fall play and a spring musical that is performed in March. Occasionally an additional show is added in a year, however, this is not a regular occurrence. Shows which occurred at different times in the same year are indicated below. 

 In the past, play productions performed by the Hayes Thespians have included shows such as:

2015 (Spring) The Ugly Duckling and The Frog Prince One Acts
2015 (Fall)  Harvey
2016 Our Town
2017 Arsenic and Old Lace
2018 Noises Off
2019 The Crucible
2020 Digital Monologue Showcase*
2021 (Fall) Alice in Wonderland
2021 (Winter) A Charlie Brown Christmas
2022 Almost, Maine
2023 The Great Gatsby

*In 2020, in lieu of a full play production, a digital monologue showcase was put together and premiered for a very limited time on YouTube. This was done because of restrictions due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.