Bloomsday drama in greville arms hotel tomorrow
Strolling Through Ulysses! is a 75-minute lighthearted whistle-stop tour through Joyce’s famous novel, highlighting the fun, action and characters of the book.
Getting under way at 11.30 tomorrow, Tuesday June 16, aka Bloomsday, in the Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar, it is the perfect way to celebrate all things Joycean!
This one-man show on James Joyce's Ulysses is performed by Robert Gogan.
The tour started with two performances in the famous Swenys Chemist on Lincoln Place in Dublin, one of the many places immortalised by Leopold Bloom on Bloomsday – June 16, 1904 – and has continued in venues throughout Ireland.
Robert was delighted to perform in the iconic Joyce’s Tower, Sandycove on February 2 (the anniversary of Joyce’s birthday, and also of the publication of Ulysses) to a packed chamber.
The show is humorous, entertaining and informative and is scattered with extracts from Ulysses which best illustrate the various aspects of Joyce’s writing – the comical, the descriptive and the complex.
“I’m really looking forward to performing Strolling Through Ulysses! in The Greville Arms Hotel, and in particular on Bloomsday itself – one of the most celebrated days in English literature!" says Robert.
“Mullingar is the only Irish town that Joyce lived in outside of Dublin and, of course, The Greville Arms Hotel is actually mentioned in Ulysses. I am very grateful to the Arts Department of Westmeath County Council for their support for this event.
“It’s a non-academic, amusing crash course on Ulysses,” says Robert, “and it is aimed particularly at those people who have never read the book, or have read it and want to be refreshed.
“It’s a little bit bawdy, certainly irreverent, but also great fun!
“I have a life-long interest in Joyce’s work, particularly Ulysses, and I’m really enjoying this nationwide tour. The reaction from audiences to date has been amazing and positive.”
Robert has also edited a new edition of Ulysses in which he has added some punctuation and formatting to help people to read the novel and derive the maximum satisfaction from it. Ulysses Remastered was published in 2012 and is available through bookshops.
Strolling Through Ulysses! will be performed in The Greville Arms Hotel on June 16 at 11.30am. Admission is free and is on a 'first come, first served ' basis. Doors open at 11am. The show is not suitable for children or young teenagers.