After 70 years of protection by an infamously strict estate, the works of James Joyce are out of copyright this year. ‘Joyced!’ threads a fresh story around a 22 year old Joyce and through the streets of Dublin in the style of his greatest work, ‘Ulysses’. Katie O’Kelly gives a remarkable performance as dozens of characters, and the writing eloquently weaves rhythms and strands from Joyce’s books and biography together into engaging, enlightening and dramatic theatre. The work is academically and artistically rigorous, and whilst the poetry of the language may not be as consistently astonishing as Joyce’s own, it is adapted to performance brilliantly. This virtuous production proves that the end of Joyce’s copyright is a beginning for Joycean theatre.

Assembly George Square, 2-26 Aug, 4.45pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Thom May]

Sections: by Thom May - ED2012 Theatre Reviews - tw rating 4/5 | Tags: Assembly, Breda Cashe

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