Lil G: A Gatsby Remix represents a major shift in my art and life. I am no longer asking for permission. I have been awakened spiritually, sexually, and politically. Like this play, I exist without apology. To quote my idol, The Boss: Diana Ross, “It’s taken me a lifetime to get here. I’m not going anywhere.”  

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby pulses with an energy that belies its stature as “required reading.” The story and its characters have haunted me since the seventh grade. For some reason, I saw myself in this novel…even as a little Black gay boy in Cincinnati, Ohio. Memories of the book have followed me into manhood and has become the vehicle that’s driven this adaptation into manifestation onstage.  

I conceptualized this play as The White Lotus on a dance floor. There is so much overlap between Gatsby and modern Hip-Hop culture. So many of us are simultaneously repulsed by and attracted to wealth and celebrity. Lil G explores this tension against the backdrop of climate change, spiritual warfare, and the many isms that plague our society. Writing it has been a blast. I never imagined that this play would have received the KCACTF Region 5 Hip Hop Theatre Creator Award. Everything that has happened through this work has been magical.  

Caroline Clay and our entire cast/creative team have transformed this play from words on a page to a full-blown event. Collaborating with Isaac Addai on the play’s music has been enlightening and life giving. Kieron Sargeant’s choreography has elevated this piece into the Heavens. Without the collaborative efforts of everyone involved, this play would not be onstage.  

I write to feel. Whether anyone “likes” this play or not is irrelevant. I simply want everyone to feel something. There is so much division out there and a lack of fun and sensuality. Have fun. And if you don’t have fun, be offended. I dare you.  

With love and a wink,  

Isaiah Reaves (Playwright)