As part of the continuing series of readings from the Dubliners short story collection, members of the JJAO presented “A Little Cloud,” read by Eileen Cassidy, Susanna Doherty, Nora Pat Marshall, and Rosemary O’Brien, with commentary by Niamh O’Brien.
The final story of the Dubliners collection, “The Dead” is considered by many to be one of the greatest short stories in the English language. It is particularly evocative in highlighting the food and the music at an Epiphany party. To replicate the Morkan sisters’ dinner and dance, the JJAO gathered for a turkey feast during which a cast of Association members enacted an edited version of the story and sang songs of the period.
To celebrate Bloomsday 2024, the JJAO invited Irish actor/director/playwright Declan Gorman to launch his three-city Canadian tour (Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto) featuring two of his one-man plays.
The first, “Dubliners Dilemma,” highlights the difficult choice Joyce’s publisher faced on whether to risk obscenity charges by publishing Joyce’s first book. As he rereads the manuscript of Dubliners, some of the stories come to life on the stage, with Declan playing the roles of truants and perverts, housemaids and barflies. Declan has performed the play across Ireland and abroad, but this was the premiere for Canada.
The second performance of the evening was a new play written by Declan in partnership with Des Gunning. The James Joyce Centre Dublin in partnership with James Joyce Association of Ottawa commissioned “Welcome O Joyce” as a broad retrospective of the world Joyce created in his four great prose works: Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake. In keeping with the 85th anniversary of Finnegans Wake, Declan’s performance highlighted the “Mamalujo” passage which first appeared in print as a “Work in Progress” a hundred years ago this year.
Finnegans Wake is one of the most challenging reads in the English language, but it rewards those who persevere to enjoy the rich humour of Joyce’s literary games and puzzles and his inventive language. Celebrations of the 85th anniversary of the book’s publication were held on May 4, 2024, in Dublin, Paris, Lisbon, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Boston and here in Ottawa.
Tickets sold out quickly, and the room soon filled up with an audience of both stalwart Joyceans and the curious who had come to see what all the fuss was about. A great afternoon’s entertainment!
The JJAO invited Richard Harte and Adam Seelig of Toronto’s One Little Goat Theatre Company to perform several highlights from the book, including the opening chapter and the “Ballad of Perrse O’Riley.” They also showed a short film, “Nowthen…” directed by Luke Brabazon, featuring Richard Harte, Frances McCormack and artist Carol Wade. The audience joined the theatre company in singing songs from the period. Harp music was provided by Nora Pat Marshall, and the James Joyce Association house band played Irish songs.
Altogether, the program revealed the rich texture of Joyce’s final masterpiece.
As part of the continuing series of readings from the Dubliners short story collection, the JJAO presented “Clay,” read by Nora Pat Marshall and John P. Kelly, with commentary by Niamh O’Brien.
