As part of the continuting series of readings from the Dubliners short story collection, members of the James Joyce Association of Ottawa presented, “A Mother,” read by Paula McCann, Sharon Labelle and Niamh O’Brien with commentary by Niamh O”Brien. The Band provided traditional tunes.
In mid-June, several members of the JJAO travelled to Ireland to be on hand for various events related to the day in the life of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus as chronicled in Ulysses. On June 15 they gathered in Phoenix Park to board the buses
The buses took them to the main entrance of Arás an Uachtaráin – home of our gracious hosts, President of Ireland Michael D. and Sabina Higgins. We were ushered into the front hallway with its gallery of past presidents.
In one of the stately rooms, we met with Mr. Joyce himself – actually John Shevlin who welcomes the opportunity to pose as James Joyce.
Out in the gardens a marquee tent and round tables had been erected for food, drink and entertainment.
The entertainment included a play that summarized all 18 episodes of Ulysses as well as singers performing songs referenced by Joyce. The fare included elegant sandwiches and desserts as well as refreshments.
Bloomsday itself – June 16th – found the members following their own itineraries to trace the steps of Stephen and Leopold through various performances and gatherings put on across the city including Davy Byrne’s ‘moral’ pub.
Outside Sweny’s Chemist, people lined up to take their turn inside to purchase a bar of lemon scented soap.
Scenes and excerpts from Ulysses were performed and read from Sandycove’s Martello Tower to Wynne’s hotel. The day wrapped with a music session at the Teachers’ Club in Parnell Square where James Joyce took singing lessons.
As part of the continuing series of readings from the Dubliners short story collection, members of the JJAO presented “Grace,” read by Paula McCann, Sharon Labelle, Mary Comerton, Rosemary O’Brien and Eileen Cassidy, with commentary by Niamh O’Brien.
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.
