“The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” adapted and directed by Alexis Kozak, is a production highly anticipated by many of South’s students and staff. “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” was originally adapted from a short story by the well-known author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. When Mr. Kozak read the short story about eight years ago, he immediately recognized its promise as a play. Although it seemed like a broken story and many of the characters were under-developed, Kozak thought that this could be the perfect opportunity to add to it and hopefully improve upon it. “The piece has to be better than you are,” Kozak says when speaking of adaptations. “You have to be better than you have ever been.” Ultimately, Kozak believes that an adaptation should be an improvement  and he hopes that he did just that with “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” Kozak believes he has stayed true to the story even with his additions, though he admits that his favorite parts are invented. One of the biggest challenges for him and the cast was to combine short dialogues that the play is full of, into longer and more meaningful exchanges. Kozak hopes that even after the cast’s many processes of cutting and re-writing that the main message that the crowd takes away is the idea of what America has done and is willing to do in pursuit of the American dream.

Since Kozak and the cast had such a hand in adapting the play they all feel a very personal connection to the production. Laura Diorio (plays Kismine) refers to her character as “I” because she feels such a close connection to her.  “We created this, someone else didn’t create it, we can determine who we want to be,” said Laura. It is an understatement to say that this production is different from others that have been performed on the South stage. It will definitely be a spectacle to behold and I would make it a priority to get tickets to see it on November 20, 21, or 22. Reserve your tickets at https://mhss.booktix.com before they sell out!