My sister the most hopeless romantic

writer I know, is now able to put 

her skills into great use.

“In the book, you may see them[the characters] just do a little dance at a party, but I want them to have a personality.

 Also, I want to evolve the love story a little more between the couples. I'm a sucker for romance,” Kiele said. 

The classic book, The Great Gatsby, is being re-written to fit the stage of McNary for the 2022 spring play.

My sister, Kiele Jarnagin, is a junior at McNary high school and was offered the project of rewriting The Great Gatsby. She was thrilled to have such a big opportunity. She had been looking for a big project and this was just the thing for her. I couldn't be more proud of her.

“I really wanted a big project, so writing this has been the highlight of my year so far,” Kelsey's sister, Kiele Jarnagin said.  

“It's going to be very similar to the book. You've seen adaptations of the play, but they’re completely different from the book,” Kiele said. 

Kiele Jarnagin has to make multiple adjustments for McNary's version of The Great Gatsby because in a version of the play the theatre department was originally looking at, there were only 12 roles to behanded out; she had counted 50 plus characters in the book. 

She has a plan to write, at max, 30 roles for people to play, all with developed personalities. 

I was wanting to read The Great Gatsby anyways so it was an excuse to read The Great Gatsby,” Kiele said.

Kiele has been writing plays since the summer of her freshman year, so she was excited to use her skills in a big project. She has written multiple plays, but has only ever written a full length play once; that play is about 100 pages. This play is going to give her multiple challenges since it is a book from the 1920s, so the dialogue must match the era. I am very excited to see what she does with this.

Kiele has received help from multiple teachers, including Mr. Luther and Mr. Cavanaugh. Mr. Luther has helped her with the writing aspect of this project, while Mr. Cavanaugh has helped with the theatre portion.

“Cav has definitely helped me with the theatre aspect, like what I can have on stage and such, like if I can have a car on stage. We're still debating on that,” Kiele said.

Kiele would love to be in the play in the spring. She says she would be happy in any role.

“I do want to be in it, that's the hope. I was given different opportunities of what I would like to do, if I would just like to be the playwright in the room, if I would like to co-direct, or if I would like to audition for the show,” Kiele said. 

Kiele felt more intrigued to do this project because of her love of theater and writing. She loves every aspect of theater, whether that's on stage or behind the scenes. When the opportunity was given to her, she knew right away she needed to take it.

“I also love to write and read- like, English has been one of those subjects I just love, so combining the two, I just thought I needed to take the opportunity. I needed to learn how to write a play,” Kiele said.