Molly Bloom By James Joyce

For Bloomsday 2019, Irish actress Eilin O’Dea will perform the American premiere of her tour de force rendition of James Joyce”Molly Bloom”; June 13 to 22 at The Theater at 244, 244 West 54th Street (10 fl.) The performance, lifted verbatim from the Penelope episode of “Ulysses”; has brought O’Dea critical acclaim in Ireland and Europe for her interpretation of Joyce’s best known and most complex female character.

O’Dea first performed the role almost a decade ago as part of Dublin’s Bloomsday Festival at the James Joyce Center. She subsequently performed the piece at the Mansion house Dublin by special invite of Dublin’s Lord Mayor and throughout Europe.

The performance is set in Dublin’s Eccles Street in 1904 around midnight. Molly ruminates on life, love, loss and sex as she awaits the return of her wandering husband, Leopold Bloom. She reminisces on her childhood years in Gibralter, the loss of her son, her adulterous relationship with Boylan, her complex relationship with her husband “Poldy” ; and how he kissed her under the moorish wall. Original direction of the performance was by Liam Carney and Patrick J Byrnes.

O’Dea’s performance was praised by Peter Crawley, lead critic of the Irish Times, writing, “Dea is every inch
the sensualist Joyce imagined.”; Irish Theatre award panelist Sara Keating added, “O’Dea brilliantly captures the nuances of Molly’s rambling mind.”; Irish Theatre Magazine heralded her performance as “rich, passionate and compelling”; and Sunday Business Post called it “brilliant”.