The Guardian (USA)

Immersive Wolf of Wall Street to bring outrageous behaviour to secret location

- Chris Wiegand

The Wolf of Wall Street, the outrageous memoir of former stockbroke­r and convicted fraudster Jordan Belfort, is to become an immersive theatre show set across four floors at a secret London location.

Belfort, who sold fraudulent­ly inflated stocks to finance a lavish lifestyle, was played by Leonardo Di Caprio in Martin Scorsese’s high-octane, Oscar-nominated film adaptation. The immersive show allows theatregoe­rs to become either a crooked Wall Street trader at the prestigiou­s firm Stratton Oakmont or sign up with the FBI to investigat­e the firm’s illegal activities.

Audiences are invited to dress in “90s American office attire” for the production and can explore a set that features a restaurant, several bars and even “supercars”. The show is directed by Alexander Wright, whose immersive jazz-age version of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby serves audiences speciality cocktails, gets them dancing with the cast and includes oneon-one encounters.

The Wolf of Wall Street’s producers Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook said there was no better way to tell this story than through immersive theatre. The show would explore “the extremes of capitalism and hedonistic behaviour and how obsession with money can bring humanity to its knees … Our guests can expect the outrageous, the spectacula­r and the downright ridiculous. ”Scorsese’s film features gargantuan levels of alcohol and drugs, a ticker-tape parade across a trading floor, a dwarf-throwing contest and a rollerskat­ing chimpanzee. Its scenes of depravity attracted a stream of complaints, including the suggestion that it glamorised criminal hedonism. “I hope people understand we’re not condoning this behaviour. We’re indicting it,” Di Caprio told Variety at the time.

Promotiona­l material for the new show states that there is “misogyny and depravity at the core of the story”, but that the team behind the production “is committed to creating a respectful and happy environmen­t for its audience and staff”.

In 2018, safeguardi­ng measures were tightened at the London production of The Great Gatsby after two incidents of alleged sexual assault on actors were reported within a fortnight.

Tickets for The Wolf of Wall Street cost £59.95 and £100. There will be a lottery for £10 and £25 tickets. The show will preview in a central London location from 5 September.

 ??  ?? ‘We’re not condoning this behaviour’ … Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese’s film The Wolf of Wall Street. Photograph: Paramount/Sportsphot­o/Allstar
‘We’re not condoning this behaviour’ … Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese’s film The Wolf of Wall Street. Photograph: Paramount/Sportsphot­o/Allstar
 ??  ?? Convicted fraudster Jordan Belfort, author of The Wolf of Wall Street. Photograph: Ramin Talaie/The Guardian
Convicted fraudster Jordan Belfort, author of The Wolf of Wall Street. Photograph: Ramin Talaie/The Guardian

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