The Whale Theatre is delighted to host three performed readings from the ‘Penelope’ chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses on Thursday, 18th June at 8pm. Actors Sighle Toibin, Gertrude Montgomery and Caolfionn Murphy each bring an adapted excerpt to life from Molly Bloom’s wonderful soliloquy to transport us back to Edwardian Dublin on the 16th of June 1904.
In her bedroom on a hot summer’s afternoon in Eccles Street, Molly reflects on her past and present, her life and her loves, and on the day itself. Our three dynamic actors each give us their unique interpretation of Molly’s various uncensored reflections, bringing her humour, frustrations, regrets and reminiscences to life. From her teenage days in Gibraltar and sexual awakenings to her married life with Leopold Bloom (‘Poldy’) and her current affair with Hugh ‘Blazes’ Boylan, we travel through her world and feel her exasperation at the challenges of being a woman in a man’s world where impulses and desires are bound both by confining clothes and the societal conventions of the day.
There’s a universality and honesty about Molly Bloom that has attracted readers and actors to interpret her and perhaps to find themselves in her ever since Ulysses was first published in 1922. Even her sometimes disconnected and random musings only reinforce the truth of her spirit and presence and, in the end, our wonder at what Joyce achieves in this closing section of his masterpiece.
*Content Advisory: This performance is intended for a mature audience and contains sexually explicit language and a historically specific racial slur. Age guidance | 16+
Tickets are €15.