On June 16, 1904, Leopold Bloom wandered the dear and dirty streets of Dublin in James Joyce’s beloved novel Ulysses. This June 15, you can wander into the Katharine Cornell Theatre for the 44th annual Bloomsday celebration, an Island tradition that gathers performers for a night of music and theatre inspired by Mr. Joyce’s many works.
Bloomsday aims to pay homage to Joyce with performance, poetry and music, organizer John Crelan said. Mr. Crelan has been with Bloomsday since its inception in 1979, beginning as a fundraiser for the Boston bookstore Stone Soup.
Every year the celebration brings in a new suite of performers just as it welcomes back the old, Mr. Crelan said.
“It’s never the same show,” Mr. Crelan said. “It’s like going to some kind of traditional event . . . . It’s the same material, but it’s never handled the same way every year, of course.”
“People tell me that they had a bad experience in college with Joyce,” Mr. Crelan added. “So we don’t have any readings, we don’t have any lectures.”
This year, Mr. Crelan will read poetry; Island composer Philip Diettrich will debut original music; and others will put on scenes from Joyce’s work and sing traditional Irish tunes.
Mr. Crelan insists that each and every act this year is a “highlight.”
Twenty per cent of ticket sales will benefit the Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard.
Tickets are $25, available in advance at Bunch of Grapes bookstore and at the door on Saturday night. The show begins at 8 pm.
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