The Other Bloomsday - Seattle 2004
James Joyce’s novel Ulysses takes place on June 16th, 1904. It follows the wanderings of Leopold Bloom, a Jewish everyman, and Stephen Dedalus, a young writer and Joyce’s alter ego, as they wander the streets of Dublin.
The centenary of Bloomsday, June 16th, 2004, is being celebrated worldwide.
The Wild Geese Players of Seattle will present staged readings of chapter 10, “Wandering Rocks”, adapted from the 1922 edition of Ulysses. The readings will take place at the Brechemin Auditorium, School of Music, University of Washington (Map) (Park in N6):
- Wednesday, June 16th, at 7:30pm
- Saturday, June 19th, at 3:00pm
Congressman Jim McDermott the part of Leopold Bloom on Saturday 19th.
Entrance is free, but donations are appreciated.
This is our seventh year of Bloomsday readings. (Press Release).
Some pictures from our rehearsals.
Wandering Rocks
The Wandering Rocks chapter is the only chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses with a brief, passing structural relationship to Homer. In Homer, Circe warns Ulysses to avoid the Wandering Rocks because they were dangerous for sea navigation. It is really taken from Jason and the Argonauts’ story of their perilous sea journey back to Corinth with the Golden Fleece.
Joyce was reputed to have used a compass, ruler, set square, map and a timepiece when he was constructing this episode. Here we are first fully introduced to the Dublin of the early twentieth century, a city that the book would eventually immortalise. Neither Stephen Dedalus nor Leopold Bloom dominates the chapter. It is Joyce’s “woman-city”, Dublin that becomes the essence of the story.
This is the central chapter of Joyce’s book, offered in 19 scenes with the 1st one functioning as a classic prologue and the 19th as an epilogue. The Wandering Rocks serves as a bridge between the two halves of the book and a miniature of the whole.
In true Joyce style, he used to play a board game called Labyrinth with his daughter Lucia. What we are witnessing is that labyrinth transported to the streets of Dublin. The characters of the city pass the mid-afternoon hour of 3–4pm. Their comings and goings become framed between the primary journeys of Church and State. Father Conmee represents the Church, and the King’s Governor General and his wife the Lord and Lady Humble Dudley represent the State. The chapter is quite cinematic in its visual presentation. Its conclusion is a city crowded with people walking, talking, running and singing!
Further background information on the Wandering Rocks chapter can be found at the Kennesaw guide to Ulysses and the Joyce portal.
Cast and Crew
| Player | Roles |
|---|---|
| Andrew Anderson] | N7, Tom Rochford, huckster, Buck Mulligan. |
| Bill Barnes | N4, Simon Dedalus, Denis J. Maginni. |
| Emma Bartholomew | N17, N2 (Sat), N12 (Sat), Boody Dedalus (Sat), “E.”. |
| Don Berg | N15, Sailor, Blazes Boylan, Shopman, Crimmins. |
| Olivia Bermingham-McDonogh | N2 (Wed), N12 (Wed), N19-B (Wed), Boody Dedalus (Wed). |
| Helen Brew | N16, Maggy Dedalus, Gerty MacDowell. |
| Conor Byrne | Fr Conmee, M’Coy, Ben Dollard, Mr Power, Dudley White. |
| Ray Crerand | N1, N18, Rev Love, Fr Cowley, Long John Fanning. |
| Margaret Donegan-Ryan | Dilly Dedalus, blond girl. |
| Maura Donegan | N10, Mrs Sheehy, Maggy Dedalus, Miss Dunne. |
| Ann Glusker | Lady Dudley. |
| Michael Green | N14, Boy2, Constable 57-C, Urchin, “Y.”, Almidano Artifoni, Jimmy Henry, Master Dignam |
| Don Hirst | Posters |
| Mary Kelly | Katey Dedalus, N9, Woman, N19-B (Sat). |
| Joe Martin | N3, “H.”, Nosey Flynn, Martin Cunningham, Drunk, Richie Goulding |
| Jim McDermott | Leopold Bloom (Sat) |
| Niall McDonnell | Stephen Dedalus, N8, blind stripling. |
| Scott McKinstry | N5, Leopold Bloom (Wed), Haines. |
| Nancy Mills | Producer. |
| Ciaran O’Mahony | Corny Kelleher, N6, Ned Lambert, Lenehan, Auctioneer, Lacquey, Fr Cowley, “‘S.” |
| Kieran O’Malley | Wandering Rock Director, dramaturge. |
| Lyndol Pullen | Earl of Dudley. |
| George V. Reilly | N11, “L.”, J. J. O’Molloy, Mr Kernan, John Wyse Nolan, Cashel Boyle … Farrell. Script wrangler, webmaster. |
| Meg Savlov | N13, N19-A, The Book. |
| Tina Bonfield | Stage Manager |
Other Events
We will have an evening of Poetry and Music of Evolution and Revolution at the Brechemin Auditorium, on Sat 6th November 2004. Join our announcements list to be notified about future readings.
See our archives for details of our previous readings.