Bloomsday Festival 2024

5 June 2024 at 8:15pm

On June 5th at 8:15pm, the James Joyce Centre hosted a performance of Welcome O Joyce, a play specially commissioned for the James Joyce Association of Ottawa and the James Joyce Centre. It is a montage of pieces from the four great prose works of Joyce, commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the first appearance in print of an extract of what would eventually become Finnegans Wake (1939). The 1924 ‘Mamalujo’ fragment is woven into an entertaining short presentation that includes a comic prologue and vivid scenes from Ulysses (1922), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Dubliners (1914).

Performed by Declan Gorman. Written by Declan Gorman and Des Gunning.

Declan Gorman is a highly regarded writer, director and performer. His previous Joyce performances The Dubliners Dilemma (2012) and Falling Through the Universe (2022) have toured widely in Ireland and overseas. In the week of Bloomsday, Declan will travel on to Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario with a selection of his Joyce works.

“Gorman holds the audience enraptured throughout with a truly mesmerising performance. This original adaptation is by no means exclusively for die-hard Joyce fans, making a brilliant introduction for newcomers!” – Metro Herald, Dublin

“Gorman’s charming play dramatises clearly how Joyce’s writing has embedded itself deeply in Irish culture. His subtle performance reminds us clearly what a masterwork this story is.” – Irish Independent

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.