Theatre

Ulysses at 100: Drama of Joyce’s words brought to the stage for a Bloomsday celebration

Several theatrical productions mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses this week, among them a Barry McGovern reading and a re-enactment of the book’s trial for obscenity in the US

Bloomsday Readings on Drumcondra Road Lower Dublin 9 this week. Declan Roache reads aloud a passage from Ulysses for locals as part of the many events taking place to mark the 100th anniversary of the book. Picture: Maxpix

In a short lecture recorded live at the Pavilion Theatre for Sunday Miscellany earlier this month and broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 (on Sunday, June 19), Declan Kiberd spoke about James Joyce’s Ulysses as “a sacred text”. Despite the author’s reputation as an atheist, Kiberd argued, Joyce was a spiritual man and Kiberd suggests he would be satisfied by the near-God-like status that his 1922 book has received in the 100 years since it was ...