To retell the descriptive narrative of F Scott Fitzgerald’s most famed work through dance and music alone is a seemingly impossible task. Yet it is being achieved with stunning beauty and imaginative staging in the Northern Ballet’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre proves the perfect contemporary backdrop for David Nixon’s (OBE) dramatic recreation of the modern classic - starring Tobias Batley (Gatsby) and Martha Leebolt (Daisy).

A sinister hall of mirrors, acted out in dark and mysterious symmetry, gives clues to the origins of enigmatic Jay Gatsby’s fortune in the prologue - and it sees the hero metamorphose from a poor soldier of the Great War into the distinguished bachelor whose name is on the lips of anyone fashionable.

Gatsby’s secret longing for his old love Daisy, by willing her to cross the water to his home in West Egg, reveals a deep soul in a shallow world. It belies the fascade he projects to the superficial social elite - who dine out on his hospitality in an energetic and era-defining 1920s party scene.

Kenneth Tindall accurately characterises the brash and violent Tom Buchanan, in domineering scenes that show his jealous ownership of Daisy and tempestuous affair with Myrtle (Jessica Morgan). But in a slow and tender love-making scene the clandestine pair reveal their sexual immorality as well as their passionate sides.

Nixon tackles the theme of gossip by using distorted mirrors to depict the opinions of scurrilous outsiders. They create warped figures and motives as Gatsby and Daisy fluidly and delicately reignite their old love.

The question on everyone’s lips is how does Nixon overcome the logistically impractical killing of Myrtle in a hit-and-run? Through the simple and imaginative use of headlights and automobile sounds, Nixon incriminates Gatsby’s yellow Duesenberg as it speeds off driven by an erratic and love-torn Daisy. It’s quickness ensuring Myrtle’s death scene is as tragic as it is vivid.

And how does he tackle Gatsby’s heartache and tragic killing by Myrtle’s husband George?

Gatsby’s raw abandonment is shown in his memory of a young and unaffected Daisy. But how does he make the dilemma of Gatsby’s death a fait accomplis?

Well, you’ll have to see that for yourself.

The Northern Ballet will perform The Great Gatsby at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury until Saturday, November 1. For tickets, visit www.marlowetheatre.com