On Saturday, 100 years after the publication of Ulysses, the spirit of Joyce’s seminal work returned for the annual Bloomsday Celebration in West Tisbury. Organized and produced by local director John Crelan, this marked the 42nd annual Bloomsday on the Island, making it one of the oldest lasting Joycean celebrations in America.

Hosted at the First Congregational Church, Bloomsday is an annual holiday celebrated worldwide, marking the day that the novel’s characters Stephen Daedalus and Leopold Bloom traversed Dublin, a modern iteration of the ancient quest of Odysseus.

Late into the night, actors and musicians celebrated James Joyce with performances sourced from his work. The event featured the Penelope monologue from the end of the famously difficult novel, as well as one from Dubliners, Joyce’s collection of short stories celebrating the quotidian lives of the city’s inhabitants.

Gerry Yukevich, a retired physician and actor on the Island, performed the short story The Boarding House in its entirety, inhabiting all three of the main characters in the process. It was not Mr. Yukevich’s first Bloomsday experience, as he has staged different stories from Dubliners in years past, both on the Island and in Boston.

Pam Schnatterly performed an abridged version of Molly Bloom’s monologues.

“I always learn something new when I prepare for this,” Mr. Yukevich said. “I like doing it so much because of how clear [Joyce’s] writing is in Dubliners, it flows well from an acting perspective.”

The event also featured local band The Convertibles’ take on two traditional Irish folks songs, both mentioned in Ulysses. While it was the third official Bloomsday for vocalist Becky Williams as a performer, she has been attending the annual celebration with her family since she was a young child.

The main showcase of the night was the debut of five original songs composed by Phillip Dietterich. Inspired by Joyce’s poetry collection entitled Chamber Music, Mr. Diettrich played the piano while accompanied by local vocalist Molly Conole.

For Ms. Conole, it was a privilege to be a part of Mr. Diettrich’s artistic process.

“It makes me so happy to sing them,” Ms. Conole said. “He just manages to bring the natural world alive in his work.”

Longtime director of the program John Crelan addresses the audience. — Mark Alan Lovewell

Caro Kayden, a newcomer to Joyce’s work, noted the humor present in the monologues performed that night, along with the passion of Ms. Conole’s singing.

“Molly’s voice was absolutely beautiful,” Kayden said.

The show concluded with Pam Schnatterly performing an abridged version of Molly Bloom’s monologues at the end of the novel. Deftly navigating the punctuation-less prose, she embodied the unfaithful wife as she recited Molly and Leopold’s unorthodox love story. She concluded the performance with the celebrated final lines of Ulysses: “Yes I said yes I will Yes.”